HK1184312B - Method and device for carrying out multi-carrier management in wireless communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

Techniques for managing operation of a user equipment (UE) in a multi-carrier system are described. The system may support two or more carriers on the downlink and one or more carriers on the uplink. One carrier on each link may be designated as an anchor carrier. In an aspect, a lower layer order (e.g., an HS-SCCH order) may be used to transition the UE between single-carrier and multi-carrier operation. In another aspect, the UE may have the same discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration for all downlink carriers and/or the same discontinuous transmission (DTX) configuration for all uplink carriers. In yet another aspect, HS-SCCH-less operation may be restricted to the anchor carrier.

Description

Method and apparatus for multi-carrier management in a wireless communication system

Divisional applicationsInformation

The scheme is a divisional application. The parent of the division is an invention patent application with the application date of 2009, 6 and 23, and the application number of 200980123977.X, and the invention name of the invention is "management of user equipment operation in a multi-carrier communication system".

Claiming priority in accordance with 35U.S.C. § 119

The present patent application claims priority from provisional united states application No. 61/074,962 entitled method and apparatus for operating discontinuous transmission and reception (DTX/DRX) in dual carrier mode (method and apparatus for operating discontinuous transmission and reception in dual carrier mode) (DTX/DRX) filed on 23/6/2008, assigned to the present assignee and expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for managing operation of User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, and single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems.

The wireless communication system may be a multi-carrier system that supports communication on multiple carriers in order to increase system capacity. Each carrier may have a particular center frequency and a particular bandwidth and may be used to send traffic data, control information, pilots, and so on. It is desirable to support operation on multiple carriers so that good performance can be achieved.

Disclosure of Invention

Techniques for managing operation of a UE in a multi-carrier system are described herein. The system may support two or more carriers on the downlink. One downlink carrier may be designated as an anchor downlink carrier and each remaining downlink carrier may be referred to as a secondary downlink carrier. The system may also support one or more carriers on the uplink. One uplink carrier may be designated as an anchor uplink carrier and each remaining uplink carrier, if present, may be referred to as a secondary uplink carrier.

In an aspect, a lower layer command may be used to transition the UE between single carrier and multi-carrier operation. The lower layer command may be lower layer signaling that is sent more quickly and efficiently than upper layer signaling. For example, the lower layer order may be a shared control channel (HS-SCCH) order of the HS-DSCH in Wideband CDMA (WCDMA). In one design, a UE may receive a lower layer command from a node B to activate or deactivate secondary carriers for the downlink and/or uplink. The UE may communicate with the node B (i) only on the anchor carrier if the lower layer commands deactivation of the secondary carrier, or (ii) on both the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier if the lower layer commands activation of the secondary carrier.

In another aspect, the UE may have the same Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration for all downlink carriers and/or the same Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) configuration for all uplink carriers. The UE may receive data from a node B on one or more downlink carriers in enabled downlink subframes, which may be determined based on a DRX configuration. The UE may send data to the node B on one or more uplink carriers in enabled uplink subframes, which may be determined based on the DTX configuration.

In another aspect, HS-SCCH-less operation may be limited to the anchor downlink carrier. The UE may be configured for HS-SCCH-less operation and may be assigned one or more transmission parameters. The node B may send data to the UE on the anchor downlink carrier and may not send signaling with the data. The UE may process the anchor downlink carrier in accordance with the assigned transmission parameters to recover data sent by the node B.

Various aspects and features of the disclosure are described in further detail below.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a wireless communication system.

Fig. 2 shows a frame format in WCDMA.

Fig. 3A and 3B show two multicarrier configurations.

Fig. 4 shows a timing diagram for some physical channels in WCDMA.

Fig. 5 shows an HS-SCCH order for enabling single carrier or dual carrier operation.

Figure 6 shows the use of HS-SCCH orders to control DRX/DTX operation.

Figure 7 shows the use of HS-SCCH orders to control UE operation.

Fig. 8 shows an HS-SCCH order to enable single carrier or dual carrier operation and to activate or deactivate DRX/DTX.

Fig. 9 shows a process for supporting multi-carrier operation.

Fig. 10 shows a process for supporting DRX/DTX operation.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram of a UE, a node B and an RNC.

Detailed Description

The techniques described herein may be used in the examplesSuch as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA 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 other variants of WCDMA and CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system may implement a radio technology such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). OFDMA systems may be implemented, for example, evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE802.16(WiMAX), IEEE802.20, and,Etc. radio technologies. UTRA and E-UTRA are parts of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE advanced (LTE-A) are new versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE-A and GSM are described in the literature from an organization named "third Generation partnership project" (3 GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in literature from an organization named "third generation partnership project 2" (3GPP 2). The techniques described herein may be used for the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, as well as other systems and radio technologies. For clarity, certain aspects of the techniques are described below for WCDMA, and 3GPP terminology is used in much of the description below.

Fig. 1 shows a wireless communication system 100, which may include several node bs and other network entities. For simplicity, only one node B120 and one Radio Network Controller (RNC)130 are shown in fig. 1. A node B may be a station that communicates with UEs and may also be referred to as an evolved node B (enb), a base station, an access point, etc. A node B may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. To improve system capacity, the total coverage area of the node B may be partitioned into multiple (e.g., three) smaller areas. Each smaller area may be served by a respective node B subsystem. In 3GPP, the term "unit" can refer to a coverage area of a node B and/or a node B subsystem serving this coverage area. The RNC130 may be coupled to a set of node bs and provide coordination and control of these node bs.

UE110 may be fixed or mobile and may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, etc. UE110 may be a cellular telephone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless telephone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, or the like. UE110 may communicate with node B120 via the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the node bs to the UEs, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the node bs.

Fig. 2 shows a frame format in WCDMA. The transmission timeline for each link is divided into a plurality of radio frames. Each radio frame has a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms) and is partitioned into 15 slots 0-14. Each time slot having T_slotDuration of 0.667ms and 2560 chips at 3.84 Mcps. Each radio frame is also partitioned into 5 subframes 0 to 4. Each subframe has a duration of 2ms and includes 3 slots.

The 3GPP supports High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which includes High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) as defined in 3GPP release 5 and later, and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) as defined in 3GPP release 6 and later. HSDPA and HSUPA are sets of channels and procedures that enable high speed packet data transmission on the downlink and uplink, respectively. For HSDPA, the node B may send data on a high speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH), which is a downlink transport channel shared by the UE in both time and code. The HS-DSCH may carry data for one or more UEs in each Transmission Time Interval (TTI). The sharing of the HS-DSCH may be dynamic and change between TTIs.

The 3GPP also supports dual cell HSDPA (DC-HSDPA). For DC-HSDPA, at most two cells of a node B may send data to a UE in a given TTI. The two cells may operate on different carriers. The terms "cell" and "carrier" may therefore be used interchangeably with respect to DC-HSDPA.

Fig. 3A shows an exemplary multi-carrier configuration 300 that may be used for DC-HSDPA. In this configuration, two carriers are available on the downlink and are referred to as downlink carriers, and one carrier is available on the uplink and is referred to as uplink carrier. One downlink carrier may be designated as an anchor downlink carrier or a primary downlink carrier. The other downlink carrier may be referred to as a secondary downlink carrier, a supplemental downlink carrier, a secondary downlink carrier, etc. The anchor downlink carrier may carry particular signaling and may support particular modes of operation, as described below. The secondary downlink carrier may be activated to support higher data rates and may be deactivated when not needed.

Fig. 3B shows an exemplary multi-carrier configuration 310 that may also be used for DC-HSDPA. In this configuration, two carriers are available on the downlink and two carriers are available on the uplink. One downlink carrier may be designated as an anchor downlink carrier and the other downlink carrier may be referred to as a secondary downlink carrier. Similarly, one uplink carrier may be designated as an anchor uplink carrier and the other uplink carrier may be referred to as a secondary uplink carrier. The anchor carrier may carry particular signaling and may support particular modes of operation, as described below. The secondary carriers may be activated to support higher data rates and may be deactivated when not needed.

Fig. 3A and 3B show two exemplary multi-carrier configurations for DC-HSDPA. In general, any number of carriers may be used for the downlink, and any number of carriers may be used for the uplink. One downlink carrier may be designated as an anchor downlink carrier and the remaining downlink carriers may be referred to as secondary downlink carriers. Similarly, one uplink carrier may be designated as an anchor uplink carrier, and the remaining uplink carriers (if present) may be referred to as secondary uplink carriers. For clarity, much of the following description is for the multi-carrier configuration shown in fig. 3A and 3B. In the following description, an anchor carrier may be an anchor downlink carrier or an anchor uplink carrier. The secondary carrier may be a secondary downlink carrier or a secondary uplink carrier.

Table 2 lists some of the physical channels used for HSDPA, HSUPA and DC-HSDPA.

TABLE 1

Fig. 4 shows timing diagrams of some physical channels for HSDPA and HSUPA. The P-CCPCH is used directly as a timing reference for the downlink physical channel and indirectly as a timing reference for the uplink physical channel. For HSDPA, the sub-frames of the HS-SCCH are time-aligned with the P-CCPCH. Subframe delay tau of HS-PDSCH from subframe of HS-SCCH_HS-PDSCH＝2T_slot. The subframe of the HS-DPCCH is delayed by 7.5 slots from the subframe of the HS-PDSCH. For HSUPA, the frame timing of the E-HICH is offset τ from the frame timing of the P-CCPCH_E-HICH,nA chip of where_E-HICH,nDefined in 3gpp ts 25.211. The E-DPCCH and the E-DPDCH are time-aligned and their frame timing is offset τ from the frame timing of the P-CCPCH_DPCH,n+1024 chips, where_DPCH,n256n and n may range from 0 to 149. The frame timing for the downlink and uplink physical channels is described in 3gpp ts 25.211. Other physical channels, such as grant channels, are not shown in fig. 4 for simplicity.

In an aspect, the HS-SCCH order may be used to transition the UE between single carrier and dual carrier operation. The HS-SCCH order is lower layer signaling that can be sent more quickly and efficiently than upper layer signaling. For example, the HS-SCCH order may be sent in 2ms with a few or tens of bits, while the upper layer messages may take longer and may include more bits. The lower layer may refer to a physical layer (PHY), a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and the like. The lower layer may be different from the upper layer, which may refer to Radio Resource Control (RRC), etc. The lower layer and the upper layer may terminate at different entities in the system. For example, in WCDMA, PHY and MAC may terminate at a node B, while RRC may terminate at an RNC.

The HS-SCCH order may be used to quickly transition the UE between single carrier and dual carrier operation. The UE may operate on only the anchor downlink carrier and the anchor uplink carrier for single carrier operation. The UE may operate on all downlink carriers and all uplink carriers for dual carrier operation. For example, the node B may quickly transition the UE to dual carrier operation when the node B has a large amount of data to send to the UE, and may quickly transition the UE to single carrier operation after sending the data.

Fig. 5 shows a design of an HS-SCCH order 500 that may be used to quickly transition a UE between single carrier and dual carrier operation. The HS-SCCH order 500 may be sent on the HS-SCCH and may include a 3-bit order type field, a 3-bit order field, a 16-bit UE identity field, and possibly other fields. The order type field may be set to a predetermined value (e.g., "001") to indicate that the HS-SCCH order is used for activation and deactivation of the secondary downlink carrier and the secondary uplink carrier, if present. The secondary carrier may also be referred to as a secondary serving HS-DSCH cell. The command field may include a designation bit that may be set to (i) a first value (e.g., "1") to indicate that the secondary carrier is activated and dual carrier operation is enabled, or (ii) a second value (e.g., "0") to indicate that the secondary carrier is deactivated and single carrier operation is enabled. The HS-SCCH order for activating/deactivating the secondary carrier may also be defined in other ways.

The ability to activate and deactivate the secondary carrier in DC-HSDPA may be beneficial for the following reasons:

1. reverting to single carrier operation when UE power is limited,

power saving at the UE,

3. free unused resources in the system, which may aid in admission control, and

4. and (4) controlling the load.

The amount of transmit power required by the UE for data transmission on the uplink may depend on the data rate and the uplink channel conditions. The UE may be power limited if the required transmit power exceeds the maximum transmit power at the UE. This may occur if the data rate is sufficiently high and/or the uplink channel quality is sufficiently poor. The UE may become power limited even if the UE is not at the coverage edge of the node B. Conversely, when the UE is at the edge of coverage, the UE may not be power limited. The power limited scenario may be due to channel conditions that may change faster than the RNC, may react (act), but may be slow enough to be manageable at the node B. By quickly reverting to single carrier operation when the UE is power limited, the required transmit power may be reduced below the maximum transmit power and power limited scenarios may be avoided.

The UE may handle more downlink channels on both downlink carriers in dual carrier operation and may therefore consume more battery power in dual carrier operation than in single carrier operation. The UE may transition to single carrier operation when data activity is low to conserve battery power. The RNC may send a small RRC control message to transition the UE between single carrier and dual carrier operation. However, due to burstiness (burstiness) of data traffic and a large number of UEs being handled by the RNC, the load at the RNC can be large. On the other hand, having the node B control the transition of the UE between single carrier and dual carrier operation may not add significant processing load at the node B.

The first two goals and possible others described above may be better achieved by having the node B (rather than the RNC) control the single carrier and multi-carrier operation of the UE. The node B may send HS-SCCH orders to quickly turn DC-HSDPA on and off and transition the UE between single carrier and dual carrier operation. The latter two goals described above can be achieved by a slow management entity at the RNC and using RRC control messages. The RNC may send a small RRC control message (instead of a full RRC reconfiguration message) to turn the DC-HSDPA of the UE on and off. Control of UE operation by the node B may be referred to as MAC-based management. The control of UE operation by the RNC may be referred to as RRC-based management.

Release 7 and later releases of 3GPP support Continuous Packet Connectivity (CPC), which allows UEs to operate with DRX and/or DTX in order to conserve battery power. For DRX, the UE may be assigned certain enabled downlink subframes in which the node B may send data to the UE. The enabled downlink subframes may also be referred to as DRX opportunities. For DTX, the UE may be assigned certain enabled uplink subframes in which the UE may send data to the node B. The enabled uplink subframes may also be referred to as DTX bursts. The UE may receive signaling and/or data in enabled downlink subframes and may send signaling and/or data in the enabled uplink subframes. The UE may power down during idle times between the enabled subframes to conserve battery power. The CPC is described in 3gpp tr25.903 available publicly under the heading "continuous connectivity for packet data users" (month 3 2007).

Fig. 4 also shows an exemplary configuration of DRX and DTX for a UE in CPC. For DRX, the enabled downlink subframes may be defined by the HS-SCCH reception pattern. For DTX, the enabled uplink subframes may be defined by an uplink DPCCH burst pattern. In the example shown in fig. 4, the UE is configured as follows:

UEDTX cycle 1 UEDRX cycle 4 subframes,

UEDTX cycle 2 ═ 8 subframes, and

UEDPCCH burst 1 ═ UEDPCCH burst 2 ═ 1 subframe.

For the DRX and DTX configurations given above, the enabled downlink subframes for HSDPA are separated by four subframes and shown in gray shading near the top of fig. 4. The enabled uplink subframes for HSUPA are also separated by four subframes and are also shown in grey shading near the middle of fig. 4. Alignment view τ of enabled downlink subframes and enabled uplink subframes_DPCH,nAnd then. The enabled downlink and uplink subframes may be aligned in time in order to extend the possible sleep time of the UE. As shown in fig. 4, the UE may wake up during enabled subframes and may go to sleep during idle times between the enabled subframes. Fig. 4 assumes that the UE is not transmitting data on the uplink, and therefore is not transmitting data on the uplinkThe E-HICH needs to be monitored for ACK/NAK.

In another aspect, the DRX/DTX operation of the UE may be the same for both carriers on each link and may observe the same order. For DRX, the UE may have a specific DRX configuration (e.g., a specific HS-SCCH reception pattern) for the anchor downlink carrier. The same DRX configuration may be applicable for the secondary downlink carrier. The UE will then have the same DRX configuration for both downlink carriers. The UE may receive data on only the anchor downlink carrier or on both downlink carriers in the enabled downlink subframes.

For DTX, the UE may have a particular DTX configuration (e.g., a particular uplink DPCCH burst pattern) for the anchor uplink carrier. The same DTX configuration may be applicable for the secondary uplink carrier (if present). The UE will then have the same DTX configuration for both uplink carriers. The UE may send data on only the anchor uplink carrier or on both uplink carriers in the enabled uplink subframes. If only one uplink carrier is available, DTX configuration will only be applied for this one uplink carrier.

The node B may send a DTX command to the UE to activate or deactivate DTX operation of the UE. In one design, the node B may send a DTX command on the anchor or secondary downlink carrier. In another design, the node B may send the DTX command on the anchor downlink carrier only. For both designs, the DTX command may be applicable to DTX operation by the UE on all uplink carriers.

The node B may send a DRX command to the UE to activate or deactivate DRX operation of the UE. In one design, the node B may send the DRX command on an anchor or secondary downlink carrier. In another design, the node B may send the DRX command only on the anchor downlink carrier. For both designs, the DRX command may be applicable to DRX operations by the UE on all downlink carriers.

In yet another aspect, DRX/DTX operation for a UE may be different for the two carriers on each link and may observe different timing. For DRX, the UE may have a first DRX configuration for the anchor downlink carrier and a second DRX configuration for the secondary downlink carrier. The UE may then have different DRX configurations for the two downlink carriers. The UE may receive data on each downlink carrier in enabled downlink subframes for the downlink carriers. Decoupling DRX operation on the two downlink carriers may allow the UE to save more battery power. A node B may send DRX commands on a given downlink carrier to control DRX operation on the downlink carrier.

For DTX, the UE may have a first DTX configuration for the anchor uplink carrier and a second DTX configuration for the secondary uplink carrier (if present). The UE may then have different DRX configurations for the two uplink carriers. The UE may send data on each uplink carrier in an enabled uplink subframe for the uplink carrier. The node B may send DTX commands to control DTX operation on each uplink carrier.

Figure 6 shows the use of an HS-SCCH order to control DRX/DTX operation at the UE. Fig. 6 is for the case where two downlink carriers and one uplink carrier are available to the UE. For DTX, the UE may be configured with an uplink DPCCH burst pattern as shown in fig. 4. For DRX, the UE may be configured with the HS-SCCH reception pattern shown in FIG. 4. For both downlink carriers, the UE is in dual carrier operation with the same DRX configuration. The anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier have the same enabled downlink subframes.

In the example shown in fig. 6, the node B sends an HS-SCCH order (denoted as "S" or "order to stop DRX/DTX") for deactivating DRX/DTX operation to the UE in subframe 4 of radio frame 9. Four subframes after sending this HS-SCCH order, all subframes on each downlink carrier are enabled and available for sending data to the UE. The node B sends an HS-SCCH order (denoted as "X" or "order for DRX/DTX") to the UE for activating DRX/DTX operation in subframe 4 of radio frame 12. Four subframes after sending this HS-SCCH order, the enabled downlink subframes are determined by the HS-SCCH reception pattern, and the enabled uplink subframes are determined by the uplink DPCCH burst pattern.

Figure 7 shows the use of HS-SCCH orders to control UE operation. Fig. 7 is for the case where two downlink carriers and one uplink carrier are available to the UE. The secondary downlink carrier may only be valid when an HS-SCCH order is sent by the node B to activate this carrier. For DTX, the UE may be configured with an uplink DPCCH burst pattern as shown in fig. 4. For DRX, the UE may be configured with the HS-SCCH reception pattern shown in FIG. 4.

In the example shown in fig. 7, the node B sends an HS-SCCH order (denoted as "2" or "order for dual carrier" in fig. 7) to activate the secondary downlink carrier and enable dual carrier operation to the UE in subframe 4 of radio frame 1 and in subframe 3 of radio frame 10. After sending these HS-SCCH orders, the node B may send data to the UE on the secondary downlink carrier in the subsequent enabled downlink sub-frame while dual carrier operation is enabled at the UE. The node B sends HS-SCCH orders deactivating the secondary downlink carrier and enabling single carrier operation (denoted as "1" order for single carrier "in fig. 7) to the UE in subframe 0 of radio frame 5 and in subframe 1 of radio frame 13. After sending these HS-SCCH orders, the node B may send data to the UE on only the anchor downlink carrier in the subsequent enabled downlink subframes while single carrier operation is enabled at the UE.

In the example shown in fig. 7, the node B sends an HS-SCCH order to deactivate DRX/DTX operation in subframe 4 of radio frame 9. Four subframes after sending this HS-SCCH order, all subframes on each enabled downlink carrier are enabled and available for sending data to the UE. The node B sends an HS-SCCH order for activating DRX/DTX operation in subframe 2 of radio frame 13. Four subframes after sending this HS-SCCH order, the enabled downlink subframes are determined by the HS-SCCH reception pattern, and the enabled uplink subframes are determined by the uplink DPCCH burst pattern.

As shown in fig. 7, when the UE is in single carrier operation and DRX is activated, a first HS-SCCH order may be sent to deactivate DRX/DTX operation, and a second HS-SCCH order may be sent four subframes later to activate the secondary downlink carrier. There may be a delay of eight sub-frames from the time the first HS-SCCH order is sent (e.g., in sub-frame 4 of radio frame 9) to the time data may be sent on the secondary downlink carrier (e.g., in sub-frame 2 of radio frame 11). This delay can be reduced by sending both a command to deactivate DRX and a command to activate the secondary downlink carrier in the same subframe. For example, if these two commands are sent in subframe 4 of radio frame 9, the node B may start sending data on the secondary downlink carrier starting in subframe 3 of radio frame 10, which is only four subframes after, as shown by the dashed line with single arrow in fig. 7.

Fig. 8 shows a design of an HS-SCCH order 800 that can be used to enable single carrier or dual carrier operation and activate or deactivate DRX/DTX. The HS-SCCH order 800 may be sent on the HS-SCCH and may include a 3-bit order type field, a 3-bit order field, a 16-bit UE identity field, and possibly other fields. The order type field may be set to a predetermined value (e.g., "000") to indicate that the HS-SCCH order is used to enable single or dual carrier operation and to activate or deactivate DRX/DTX. The command field may include three bits x_ord,1、x_ord,2And x_ord,3It can be defined as follows:

DRX activation bit (e.g., x)_ord,1): set to "0" to deactivate DRX or set to "1" to activate DRX,

DTX activation bit (e.g., x)_ord,2): set to "0" to deactivate DTX or set to "1" to activate DTX, and

DC-HSDPA active bit (e.g., x)_ord,3): set to "0" to deactivate the secondary downlink carrier or set to "1" to activate the secondary downlink carrier.

The DC-HSDPA activation bit may also activate or deactivate a secondary uplink carrier (if present).

The HS-SCCH orders for activating/deactivating the secondary carrier and activating/deactivating DRX/DTX can also be defined in other ways. A separate HS-SCCH order may also be used to activate/deactivate the secondary carrier and to activate/deactivate DRX/DTX.

For normal operation in HSDPA, the node B may send data to the UE on the HS-PDSCH and may send signaling on the HS-SCCH two slots before the data, as shown in fig. 4. The signaling may convey various parameters, such as spreading codes and coding and modulation schemes used to transmit data. The UE may receive signaling on the HS-SCCH and may process the HS-PDSCH according to the signaling to recover data sent to the UE.

The 3GPP supports HS-SCCH-free operation for data transmission on the downlink. For HS-SCCH less operation, the node B may assign relevant transmission parameters to the UE, e.g., during call setup. The node B may send the assigned parameters to the UE via upper layer signaling or by some other means. Thereafter, the node B may send data to the UE on the HS-PDSCH without sending signaling on the HS-SCCH. The UE may process the HS-PDSCH according to the assigned parameters to recover any data sent to the UE. HS-SCCH-less operation can reduce the amount of signaling on the downlink, which can improve system capacity.

In another aspect, HS-SCCH-less operation may be limited to the anchor downlink carrier in DC-HSDPA. The node B may send data to the UE on the HS-PDSCH on the anchor downlink carrier, and may not send signaling on the HS-SCCH on this downlink carrier. Limiting HS-SCCH operation to the anchor downlink carrier may simplify operation of the node B and the UE, which may communicate on the anchor downlink carrier for other purposes. This may also save battery power for the UE, which does not need to process the secondary downlink carrier due to data sent with HS-SCCH operation.

The HS-SCCH order may be used to activate or deactivate HS-SCCH free operation. The HS-SCCH order may include an HS-SCCH less operation activation bit, which may be set to "0" to deactivate HS-SCCH less operation or set to "1" to activate HS-SCCH less operation.

In general, the DRX activation bit, DTX activation bit, DC-HSDPA activation bit, and HS-SCCH less operation activation bit may be used to activate or deactivate DRX, DTX, DC-HSDPA, and HS-SCCH less operation, respectively. The four activation bits may be sent in one or more HS-SCCH orders depending on the capacity of each HS-SCCH order. If the HS-SCCH order may carry up to three active bits, then in one design, the DRX, DTX, and DC-HSDPA active bits may be sent in one HS-SCCH order, and the HS-SCCH less operation active bits may be sent in another HS-SCCH order, as described above. In another design, the DRX, DTX, and HS-SCCH less operation activation bits may be sent in one HS-SCCH order, and the DC-HSDPA activation bits may be sent in another HS-SCCH order. The four activation bits may also be sent in the HS-SCCH order in other manners.

Dynamic carrier management in DC-HSDPA and its interaction with the CPC can be implemented as described above. The HS-SCCH order may be used to transition the UE between single carrier and dual carrier operation. DRX operation may be the same on both downlink carriers and DTX operation may be the same on both uplink carriers, which may simplify operation and provide other benefits. The DTX command may be sent on the downlink carrier or may be limited to the anchor downlink carrier. HS-SCCH-less operation may be limited to the anchor downlink carrier. As described above, the HS-SCCH order can be used to activate or deactivate DRX, DTX, DC-HSDPA, and HS-SCCH-less operation. DRX, DTX, DC-HSDPA, and HS-SCCH-less operation may also be activated or deactivated with other mechanisms (e.g., RRC messages at the upper layer, some other signaling at the lower layer, etc.).

For clarity, much of the description herein covers two downlink carriers and one or two uplink carriers. In general, the techniques described herein may be used for any number of downlink carriers and any number of uplink carriers. If more than two carriers are available for a given link, the HS-SCCH order may be applicable to all carriers or a subset of the carriers (e.g., a pair of carriers).

Fig. 9 shows an exemplary design of a process 900 for supporting multi-carrier operation. Process 900 may be performed by an entity, which may be UE110, node B120, or some other entity. The entities may exchange (e.g., send or receive) lower layer commands to activate or deactivate secondary carriers for the UE (block 912). The lower layer order may be an HS-SCCH order in WCDMA or some other lower layer signaling. In one design, the entity may be a UE. For block 912, the UE may receive a lower layer command sent by the node B to the UE to activate or deactivate the secondary carrier. In another design, the entity may be a node B. For block 912, the node B may send a lower layer command to the UE to activate or deactivate the secondary carrier.

In one design, the entity may determine whether to activate or deactivate the secondary carrier based on available transmit power at the UE. For example, if the UE has insufficient transmit power and is power limited, the secondary carrier may be deactivated. In another design, the entity may determine whether to activate or deactivate the secondary carrier based on data activity at the UE. As noted above, the entity may also activate or deactivate the secondary carrier based on other factors.

The entity may communicate (e.g., transmit or receive data and/or signaling) only on the anchor carrier if a lower layer commands deactivation of the secondary carrier (block 914). The entity may communicate on the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier if the lower layer commands activation of the secondary carrier (block 916). The anchor carrier and the secondary carrier may be used for the downlink or uplink, or for both links. More than one secondary carrier may also be available. In this case, the lower layer command may activate or deactivate all or a subset of the secondary carriers.

In block 912, a lower layer command may activate the secondary carrier. In one design, the node B may send another lower layer command to the UE to deactivate the secondary carrier if inactivity is detected. In another design, the node B and the UE may each maintain an inactivity timer and may deactivate the secondary carrier autonomously after a certain inactivity time has elapsed without sending another lower layer command for deactivation.

The entities may exchange a second HS-SCCH order to activate or deactivate HS-SCCH less operation at the UE. If the second HS-SCCH order activates HS-SCCH-less operation, which may be restricted to the anchor carrier, the entities may thereafter exchange data without signaling.

Fig. 10 shows an exemplary design of a process 1000 for supporting DRX/DTX operation. Process 1000 may be performed by an entity, which may be UE110, node B120, or some other network entity. The entity may communicate (e.g., transmit or receive data and/or signaling) on an anchor downlink carrier according to the DRX configuration of the UE (block 1012). The entity may communicate on a secondary downlink carrier according to the DRX configuration of the UE (block 1014). The anchor and secondary downlink carriers may have a common downlink subframe in which data may be sent by the node B to the UE.

In one design, the entity may be a node B. The node B may send a lower layer order (e.g., HS-SCCH order) to the UE to activate or deactivate DRX operation on the anchor and secondary downlink carriers. In another design, the entity may be a UE. The UE may receive a lower layer order (e.g., HS-SCCH order) sent by the node B to activate or deactivate DRX operation on the anchor and secondary downlink carriers. In one design, the lower layer command may be sent via an anchor downlink carrier or a secondary downlink carrier. In another design, the lower layer commands may be limited to the anchor downlink carrier.

In one design, the entity may communicate on an anchor uplink carrier according to a DTX configuration for the UE (block 1016). The entity may communicate on a secondary uplink carrier in accordance with the DTX configuration for the UE (block 1018). The anchor and secondary uplink carriers may have a common uplink subframe in which data may be sent by the UE to the node B.

In another design, the entity may communicate on the uplink carrier according to a DTX configuration of the UE. The entity may exchange lower layer commands on an anchor downlink carrier or a secondary downlink carrier to activate or deactivate DTX operation on an uplink carrier. Alternatively, the entity may be limited to exchanging lower layer commands on the anchor downlink carrier to activate or deactivate DTX operation.

In one design, the entity may only communicate on the anchor downlink carrier if the secondary downlink carrier is deactivated. The entity may communicate on both downlink carriers if a secondary downlink carrier is activated. In one design, the entities may exchange a single lower layer order (e.g., one HS-SCCH order) to activate or deactivate DRX operation and to activate or deactivate secondary downlink carriers. In another design, the entities may exchange one lower layer command to activate or deactivate DRX operation and may exchange another lower layer command to activate or deactivate a secondary downlink carrier.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a design of UE110, node B120, and RNC130 in FIG. 1. At UE110, an encoder 1112 may receive traffic data and messages to be sent by UE110 on the uplink. Encoder 1112 may process (e.g., encode and interleave) traffic data and messages. A modulator (Mod)1114 may further process (e.g., modulate, channelize, and scramble) the encoded traffic data and messages and provide output samples. A transmitter (TMTR)1122 may condition (e.g., convert to analog, filter, amplify, and frequency upconvert) the output samples and generate an uplink signal, which may be transmitted to node B120.

On the downlink, UE110 may receive a downlink signal transmitted by node B120. A receiver (RCVR)1126 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the received signal and provide input samples. A demodulator (Demod)1116 may process (e.g., descramble, channelize, and demodulate) the input samples and provide symbol estimates. A decoder 1118 may process (e.g., deinterleave and decode) the symbol estimates and provide decoded data and messages (e.g., HS-SCCH orders) sent to the UE 110. Encoder 1112, modulator 1114, demodulator 1116, and decoder 1118 may be implemented by a modem processor 1110. These units may perform processing according to the radio technology used by the system (e.g., WCDMA, etc.). Controller/processor 1130 may direct operations at UE 110. Processor 1130 and/or other units at UE110 may perform or direct process 900 in fig. 9, process 1000 in fig. 10, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. Memory 1132 may store program codes and data for UE 110.

At node B120, a transmitter/receiver 1138 may support radio communication for UE110 and other UEs. A controller/processor 1140 may perform various functions for communication with the UEs. On the uplink, uplink signals from UE110 may be received and conditioned by receiver 1138 and further processed by controller/processor 1140 to recover the traffic data and messages sent by the UE. On the downlink, traffic data and messages (e.g., HS-SCCH orders) may be processed by controller/processor 1140 and conditioned by transmitter 1138 to generate downlink signals that may be transmitted to UE110 and other UEs. Processor 1140 and/or other units at node B120 may perform or direct process 900 in fig. 9, process 1000 in fig. 10, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. A memory 1142 may store program codes and data for the node B. A communication (Comm) unit 1144 may support communication with RNC130 and/or other network entities.

At the RNC130, a controller/processor 1150 may perform various functions to support communication services for the UE. Processor 1150 and/or other units at RNC130 may perform all or part of process 900 in fig. 9, process 1000 in fig. 10, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. A memory 1152 may store program codes and data for RNC 130. A communication unit 1154 may support communication with node bs and other network entities.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be 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 including 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 general purpose or special purpose 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 means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. 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, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, 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 reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the invention is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (15)

1. A method for multi-carrier management in a wireless communication system, comprising:

exchanging a lower layer command via a secondary downlink carrier to activate or deactivate Discontinuous Reception (DRX) operation on both the secondary downlink carrier and an anchor downlink carrier;

communicating on the anchor downlink carrier according to a discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration of a user equipment, UE; and

communicating on the secondary downlink carrier according to the same DRX configuration of the UE, the anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier having a common subframe in which data may be sent by a node B to the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a lower layer command from the node B to the UE to activate or deactivate DRX operation on the anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a lower layer command sent by the node B to the UE to activate or deactivate DRX operation on the anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

exchanging a shared control channel HS-SCCH order of the HS-DSCH to activate or deactivate DRX operation on the anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

exchanging second lower layer commands via the anchor downlink carrier to activate or deactivate DRX operations on the anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

communicating on an uplink carrier according to the Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) configuration of the UE.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

exchanging lower layer commands on the anchor downlink carrier or the secondary downlink carrier to activate or deactivate DTX operation on the uplink carrier.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

exchanging lower layer commands only on the anchor downlink carrier to activate or deactivate DTX operation on the uplink carrier.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

communicating on an anchor uplink carrier according to a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) configuration of the UE; and

communicating on a secondary uplink carrier according to the DTX configuration of the UE, the anchor uplink carrier and the secondary uplink carrier having a common subframe in which data may be sent by the UE to the node B.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

communicate only on the anchor downlink carrier with the secondary downlink carrier deactivated; and

communicate on the anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier with the secondary downlink carrier activated.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

exchanging a single lower layer command to activate or deactivate DRX operation and to activate or deactivate the secondary downlink carrier.

12. An apparatus for multi-carrier management in a wireless communication system, comprising:

means for exchanging lower layer commands via a secondary downlink carrier to activate or deactivate Discontinuous Reception (DRX) operation on both the secondary downlink carrier and an anchor downlink carrier;

means for communicating on the anchor downlink carrier according to a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration of a User Equipment (UE); and

means for communicating on the secondary downlink carrier according to the same DRX configuration of the UE, the anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier having a common subframe in which data may be sent by a node B to the UE.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

means for communicating on an uplink carrier according to a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) configuration of the UE.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

means for communicating on an anchor uplink carrier in accordance with a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) configuration of the UE; and

means for communicating on a secondary uplink carrier according to the DTX configuration of the UE, the anchor uplink carrier and the secondary uplink carrier having a common subframe in which data may be sent by the UE to the node B.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

means for communicating only on the anchor downlink carrier with the secondary downlink carrier deactivated; and

means for communicating on the anchor downlink carrier and the secondary downlink carrier if the secondary downlink carrier is activated.