HK1186314A - Resource allocation for pucch format 1b with channel selection in an lte-a tdd system - Google Patents

Description

Resource allocation for PUCCH format 1B with channel selection in LTE-A TDD systems

Require priority

The priority of U.S. provisional patent application 61/430,879 entitled "Resource Allocation for PUCCH Format 1b with Channel Selection in LTE-A-TDD System", filed 7/1/2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Background

There is a continuing need to provide telecommunication services to fixed and mobile subscribers as efficiently and inexpensively as possible. In addition, the increased use of mobile applications has driven the development of wireless systems capable of distributing large amounts of data at high speeds. The development of more efficient and higher bandwidth wireless networks is becoming increasingly important and the problem of how to maximize efficiency in such networks is ongoing.

Drawings

Aspects, features, and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like elements and in which:

fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example wireless network in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments;

fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless system configured to communicate in a wireless network.

Detailed Description

Although the following detailed description describes example embodiments of the present invention in relation to a broadband Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), the present invention is not limited thereto and may be applied to other types of wireless networks where similar advantages may be obtained. Such networks include in particular, if applicable, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) and/or Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMANs). Moreover, although particular embodiments may be described with reference to wireless networks utilizing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), embodiments of the invention are not so limited and may be implemented and/or combined with other air interfaces including single carrier communication channels, including single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), or other protocols and air interfaces for Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) communications, where suitably applicable.

The following inventive embodiments may be used in a variety of applications including transmitters and receivers of a radio system, but the inventive embodiments are not limited in this respect. Radio systems specifically included within the scope of the present invention include, but are not limited to, fixed or mobile devices, repeaters, gateways, bridges, hubs, routers, Network Interface Cards (NICs), network adapters, or other network devices. Furthermore, the radio system may be implemented in cellular radiotelephone systems, satellite systems, two-way radio systems, as well as computing devices including such radio systems, including Personal Computers (PCs), netbooks, tablets and related peripherals, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), personal computing accessories, handheld communication devices such as smartphones, and all systems which are related in nature and to which the principles of the inventive embodiments may be suitably applied. Further, each system may be configured to operate with many radios heterogeneously over multiple networks (where two or more networks overlap and coexist), such as a WWAN, WLAN, and/or WPAN.

For purposes of this detailed description, the phrase "A/B" means A or B. The phrase "A and/or B" means "(A), (B) or (A and B)". The phrase "at least one of A, B and C" means "(A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C)". Also, the phrase "(A) B" means "(B) or (AB)", i.e., A is an optional element.

Turning to fig. 1, an example wireless communication network 100 in accordance with various inventive embodiments may be any wireless system capable of facilitating wireless access between a core or Provider Network (PN) (110), one or more evolved node bs (enodebs) 114 and 116, and one or more User Equipment (UEs) 120 (which include mobile and/or fixed subscribers). In various embodiments, enodebs 114 and/or 116 may be fixed stations (e.g., fixed nodes) or mobile stations/nodes. In alternative embodiments, a relay node (not shown) may also communicate with one or more of the UE 120 and/or the donor eNodeB. Further, many of the UEs 120-126 may also communicate with one or more other wireless networks 100, including different types of wireless networks, through heterogeneous networking (not shown).

The network 100 may be a wireless communication network such as those envisioned by the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile phone network and its LTE-advanced (LTE-a), an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 mobile Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) network, an IEEE 802.11 WLAN, or other types of networks to which the principles of the inventive embodiments may be suitably applied. As used herein, the term "LTE-a" refers to any past, present, or future LTE standard, including, but not limited to, release 10.

Reference herein to a User Equipment (UE) may be a platform such as a Subscriber Station (SS), a Station (STA), a terminal, a Mobile Station (MS), an Advanced Mobile Station (AMS), a High Throughput (HT) Station (STA), or a very HT STA (VHT STA), among others. Various forms of platforms including UE, terminal, SS, MS, HT STA, and VHT STA are interchangeable and references to a particular platform do not preclude other platforms from being substituted in various embodiments. The eNodeB may be a Base Station (BS), an Advanced Base Station (ABS), an Access Point (AP), a node, or a node B. Furthermore, these terms may be conceptually interchanged, depending on the wireless protocol employed, so references to enodebs herein may also be considered in various embodiments as references to BSs, ABSs, or APs.

The UE 120 and/or enodebs 114 and/or 116 may include multiple antennas for implementing a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission system that may operate in multiple MIMO modes including single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), closed-loop MIMO, open-loop MIMO, or variations of smart antenna processing. Furthermore, each UE 120 and/or eNodeB 114 and/or 116 may be configured with multiple input antennas and a single output antenna (MISO) or a single input antenna and multiple output antennas (SIMO).

The UE 120 may provide some type of Channel State Information (CSI) feedback to one or more of the enodebs 114 and/or 116 via one or more uplink channels, and the enodebs 114 and/or 116 may adjust one or more DL channels based on the received CSI feedback. The feedback accuracy of the CSI may affect the performance of the MIMO system. The CSI feedback may include information related to a Channel Quality Index (CQI), a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), and a Rank Indication (RI). The PMI may relate to or otherwise uniquely identify a precoder within the codebook. The enodebs 114 and/or 116 may adjust the DL channel based on the precoder involved by the PMI.

The UL and DL channels may be associated with one or more frequency bands, which may or may not be shared between the UL and DL channels. In one embodiment, in a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) configuration, an UL channel is located in a first frequency band and a DL channel is located in a second frequency band. In another embodiment, the UL channel and the DL channel are located in a common frequency band in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) configuration. Further, each frequency band may or may not be a contiguous frequency band. Each frequency band may be further divided into one or more sub-bands, which may or may not be shared by UL and DL channels. One or more frequency bands (wideband) per frequency sub-band, carrier or sub-carrier, one or more aggregated sub-bands, or UL or DL channel may be referred to as a frequency resource.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method of allocating a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource, e.g., a Physical Resource Block (PRB), and a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) using a PUCCH format 1b with channel selection for feeding back hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) information in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system supporting carrier aggregation over multiple carriers for multiple serving cells. The serving cells may include a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), but embodiments are not so limited and may also include one or more additional serving cells. For example, additional scells may be added in other embodiments.

TDD systems may also be configured to operate using Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) or coexist with systems configured to use FDD. The TDD system may be a 3GPP LTE or LTE-a system supporting carrier aggregation on two carriers or another wireless system arranged for TDD communication using two or more carriers. When using PUCCH format 1b with channel selection, four (4) or less bits of information may be transmitted using channel selection from among four unique PUCCH resources, each capable of carrying two (2) bits.

For LTE and LTE-a devices, such as UE 120 and/or enodebs 114 and/or 116, that are configured to communicate using TDD, HARQ ACK/NACK information corresponding to the number of subframes for the PCell and SCell is communicated by the UE to the eNodeB in UL subframes according to the downlink association set. One such downlink association set index K for TDD: { k } is a function of₀, k₁, … k_M-1Is illustrated in table 1.

TABLE 1

As an example of how to use the downlink association set index of table 1, for UL-DL configuration 1, subframe 2 (where n =2, which is a UL subframe that may be used to transmit HARQ ACK/NACKA information using PUCCH) will have its ACK/NACK transmitted in subframe n (n =2 in this example), which subframe 2 corresponds to DL data previously transmitted over a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and scheduled by an associated Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), which corresponding DL data is transmitted in n-k subframes (k =7 or 6 in this example, with two elements). In these embodiments 10 subframes per frame are considered, n-k =2+10 (from the previous frame) -7=5 for k = 7. For k =6, k =2+10 (from the previous frame) -6= 6. Thus, for UL-DL configuration 1, the PDSCH transmitted in subframes 5 and 6 of the previous frame will be ACK'd/NACK'd in subframe 2 of the following frame. In this example, subframe n =2 is a UL subframe for all configurations. In another example, UL-DL configuration 4, subframe 3 is another UL subframe having four elements.

Embodiments of the present invention provide resource allocation in UL subframes when M =2, M =3, or M =4, where M is the cardinality of the set K of elements (e.g., the elements of table 1). In UL-DL configuration 1, subframe 2, M =2 because there are two elements. M may also be identified as a bundling window size for time domain (i.e., subframe) bundling.

The resource allocation for the channel may be done implicitly and/or explicitly. Implicit resource allocation can occur when the projected resource allocation is inferred by the transmission of information (sent for alternate purposes). The use of implicit resource allocation allows more information to be transmitted without using additional resources, thereby providing a more efficient signaling procedure. Explicit resource allocation can occur when a resource (specified for transmission of the resource allocation) is used to signal a planned resource allocation.

Resource allocation signaling for UL transmissions by transmission of DL subframes may be efficiently indicated, sensed, or determined using implicit signaling to reduce bits that would otherwise be transmitted in DL frames or subframes, thereby improving power consumption, throughput, delay, and other performance criteria. Furthermore, resource allocation signaling for UL transmission by transmission of DL subframes may be explicitly indicated using existing subframe fields transmitted in DL to simplify DL subframe format and provide improved compatibility.

In an embodiment, resource allocation information for PUCCH format 1b with channel selection is carried by PDCCH. In LTE or LTE-a, modulation of PUCCH format 1b with channel selection is performed using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) with two bits. Alternative modulation schemes and/or numbers of bits may be used in other embodiments.

Referring to fig. 2, an exemplary method 200 for communicating in a wireless communication network 100 may include associating, in unit 205, a UE (e.g., UE 3124) with an eNodeB (e.g., eNodeB 1114) in a primary cell (PCell). The association of the UE with the eNodeB may include a cell search procedure in which the UE acquires time and frequency synchronization with the PCell and detects a physical layer cell Identity (ID) of the PCell. The cell search procedure may include transmitting primary and secondary synchronization signals from the eNodeB to the UE using DL transmission. In element 210, the UE is associated with an eNodeB (e.g., eNodeB 2116) in a secondary cell (SCell), where the UE may be associated with the SCell upon receiving an activation command.

In element 215, the UE may determine all or at least a portion of the UE's PUCCH resource allocation. For PDSCH transmissions over multiple subframes transmitted on the PCell and/or SCell, where the transmission is indicated by detection of a corresponding PDCCH on the PCell, a lowest or first Control Channel Element (CCE) index (n) of the corresponding PDCCH may be used_CCE) Or (n)_CCE,m) The appropriate function (for transmission of Downlink Control Information (DCI) assignment) implicitly indicates the number of PUCCH resources. In the context of 3GPP LTE or LTE-a, the channel control element index is a set of resource elements in a PDCCH message to which some or all of the resource elements may be mapped. There may be 36 resource elements in the set, but additional or fewer resource elements may be used in other embodiments.

In element 220, the number of PUCCH resources may also be indicated. For PDSCH transmissions on the SCell indicated by detection of a corresponding PDCCH on the SCell, one or more of up to four PUCCH resource values may be indicated by explicitly indicating one or more PUCCH resources by reusing a Transmit Power Control (TPC) field in the DCI of the corresponding PDCCH, where the number of PUCCH resources or PUCCH resource values is configured by higher layers, such as through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, which may include a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and/or a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. The DCI may be transmitted on a layer 1/layer 2 (L1/L2) control channel, where the L1/L2 control channel provides the UE (e.g., UE 124) with the necessary information for DL data reception and decoding and provides UL control information for providing the scheduler and HARQ protocol along with information about the UE. In alternative embodiments, additional or alternative fields besides the TPC field may be used to indicate the number of PUCCH resources.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of PUCCH resource allocation in accordance with various embodiments. A primary cell (PCell) 302 and a secondary cell (SCell) 304 may be deployed by eNodeB 1114 and eNodeB 2116, respectively, of fig. 1, and a plurality of subframes having a subframe bundling window size (M) equal to 4 in bundling window 300 may be transmitted in PCell 302 and SCell 304. In alternative embodiments, more or fewer subframes may be used in each bundling window. Bundling window 300 of PCell 302 includes DL subframes 310-. PCell 302 and SCell 304 each employ one or more Component Carriers (CCs), which may be 1.4, 3, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz) in bandwidth. Each CC may be continuous or discontinuous.

In fig. 3, up to two CCs are used on DL to schedule PDSCH on PCell 332 using PDCCH to transmit scheduling information in each DL subframe and PDCCH to schedule PDSCH on SCell 334 using PDCCH to transmit scheduling information, with four PUCCH resources implicitly scheduled on UL in one or more UL subframes 350. PDCCH, PDSCH and PUCCH are physical channels, where each physical channel corresponds to a set of resource elements in a time-frequency grid for information and/or data transmission.

The PDCCH may carry information such as transport formats and resource allocations related to the DL-SCH and Paging Channel (PCH) transport channels, and related HARQ information. The PDSCH is a DL channel that may carry user data and other signaling information, while the PUCCH may carry UL control information including Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs), Acknowledgements (ACKs) and Negative Acknowledgements (NAKs) of HARQ in response to DL transmissions and UL scheduling requests.

In an embodiment, the UL resource allocation illustrated in fig. 3 is applied to TDD HARQ-ACKs multiplexed with PUCCH format 1b with channel selection (where bundling window 300 size equals four and two configured serving cells have cross-carrier scheduling). In the embodiment of fig. 3, due to transmissions in DL subframes of the bundling window 300 associated with UL subframe 350, between two and four PUCCH resources may be available, where each PUCCH resource may be indicated by a transmission of a corresponding PDSCH transmission, e.g., a first PUCCH resource indicated by a first PDSCH transmitted in a first downlink subframe 310 on PCell 302, a second PUCCH resource indicated by a second PDSCH transmitted in a second downlink subframe 311 on PCell 302, and so on, resulting in four PUCCH resources. In alternative embodiments, fewer PUCCH resources may be indicated.

Fig. 4 is an embodiment in which PDCCH is transmitted on PCell 302 and SCell 304. The UL resource allocation illustrated in fig. 4 is applied to TDD HARQ-ACK multiplexed with PUCCH format 1b with channel selection (where bundling window 300 size equals four and two configured serving cells have no cross-carrier scheduling). PUCCH resource allocations between two and four may be implicitly indicated for the UL. Each PUCCH resource may be implicitly indicated by the transmission of the corresponding PDSCH transmission, e.g., a first PUCCH resource is indicated by a first PDSCH transmitted on PCell 302, a second PUCCH resource is indicated by a second PDSCH transmitted on PCell 302, etc., where each PUCCH resource may be indicated by a PDSCH transmitted on PCell 302 and/or SCell 304.

In fig. 3 and 4, the lowest Control Channel Element (CCE) index (N) of the PDCCH transmitted on PCell 302 may be used_CCE) PUCCH resources are allocated to schedule PDSCH on PCell 302 and/or SCell 304 within four DL subframes (i.e., DL subframe # i through DL subframe # i + 3) to implicitly indicate the four PUCCH resources.

In other embodiments, the number of PUCCH resources may be implicitly indicated by the PDCCH transmitted on the PCell to schedule PDSCH transmission on PCell 302, and in embodiments with cross-carrier scheduling, the number of PUCCH resources may be implicitly indicated by the PDCCH transmitted on the PCell to schedule PDSCH transmission on SCell 304, or in embodiments without cross-carrier scheduling, the number of PUCCH resources may be implicitly indicated by the PDCCH transmitted on the SCell to schedule PDSCH transmission on SCell 304, to indicate a total of four PUCCH resources for UL subframe 350.

Fig. 5 illustrates UL resource allocation for TDD HARQ-ACK multiplexed with PUCCH format 1b with channel selection (where bundling window 300 size equals three and two configured serving cells have cross-carrier scheduling). Four PUCCH resources may be derived from transmissions in DL subframes of the bundling window 300 associated with the UL subframe 350. In alternative embodiments, fewer PUCCH resources may be indicated.

In fig. 5, up to two DL component carriers may be used and all PDCCHs are transmitted on the DL PCell 302. The PDSCH on SCell 304 is scheduled by PDCCH on PCell 302 using cross-carrier scheduling. In this embodiment, four PUCCH resource allocations are indicated for the UL subframe 350. When using LTE-a TDD PUCCH format 1b with channel selection to provide resource allocation, the first or lowest CCE index (N) of PDCCH transmitted on PCell 302 is used_CCE) UL resources are allocated to schedule PDSCH on PCell 332 within three DL subframes to implicitly indicate three PUCCH resources. Further, the first or lowest CCE index (N) of any one PDCCH transmitted on PCell 302 to schedule PDSCH on SCell 334 within 3 DL subframes is transmitted_CCE) Yet another PUCCH resource may be implicitly indicated to provide a total of four UL resources.

Fig. 6 illustrates UL resource allocation for TDD HARQ-ACK multiplexed with PUCCH format 1b with channel selection (where bundling window 300 size equals three and two configured serving cells do not have cross-carrier scheduling). Four PUCCH resources may be derived from transmissions in DL subframes of the bundling window 300 associated with the UL subframe 350. In this embodiment, the PDCCH is transmitted on both DL PCell 302 and DL SCell 304 using independent scheduling. In addition, the lowest or first CCE index (N) of the transmitted PDCCH may be used_CCE) Resources are allocated to schedule PDSCH on PCell 302 within three DL subframes to implicitly indicate three PUCCH resources. Also, the next lowest N of any PDCCH transmitted (for scheduling PDSCH on PCell 302 within three DL subframes) is used_CCE+1 may implicitly indicate yet another PUCCH resource.

Fig. 7 illustrates UL resource allocation for TDD HARQ-ACK multiplexed with PUCCH format 1b with channel selection (where bundling window 300 size equals three and two configured serving cells do not have cross-carrier scheduling). Four PUCCH resources may be derived from transmissions in DL subframes of the bundling window 300 associated with the UL subframe 350. One or more PUCCH resources may be implicitly indicated by the PDCCH transmitted on the PCell to schedule PDSCH transmission on PCell 302 and one or more PUCCH resources may be indicated via the PDCCH transmitted on the SCell to schedule PDSCH transmission on SCell 304 to indicate a total of four PUCCH resources for UL subframe 350. Each PUCCH resource may be implicitly indicated by a corresponding PDSCH transmission, e.g., a first PUCCH resource indicated by a first PDSCH transmitted on PCell 302, a second PUCCH resource indicated by a second PDSCH transmitted on PCell 302, etc., where each PUCCH resource may be indicated by a PDSCH transmitted on PCell 302 and/or SCell 304.

A field in the DCI format corresponding to the PDCCH in DL SCell 304 within three DL subframes as an ACK/NAK resource indicator (ARI) (e.g., a Transmit Power Control (TPC) field) may be used to explicitly indicate the PUCCH resources configured by the higher layer (e.g., through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling). Thus, three PUCCH resources are implicitly indicated and one more PUCCH resource is explicitly indicated to indicate a total of four PUCCH resources for UL subframe 350.

Fig. 8 illustrates UL resource allocation for TDD HARQ-ACK multiplexed with PUCCH format 1b with channel selection (where bundling window 300 size equals two and two configured serving cells have cross-carrier scheduling). Multiple PUCCH resources may be derived from transmissions in DL subframes of the bundling window 300 associated with the UL subframe 350. The third bundling window 300 includes a first DL subframe 310 and a second DL subframe 311 with two PDCCHs for scheduling two PDSCHs on PCell 332 and two PDCCHs for scheduling two PDSCHs on SCell 334 (using cross-carrier scheduling for SCell 304). In fig. 8, three PUCCH resources may be implicitly indicated for UL subframe 350, where PDCCH scheduling PDSCH transmissions on PCell 302 and SCell 334 is used for DL subframes 310 and 311. In other embodiments, additional PUCCH resources may be indicated implicitly or explicitly.

Fig. 9 illustrates UL resource allocation for TDD HARQ-ACK multiplexed with PUCCH format 1b with channel selection (where bundling window 300 size equals two and two configured serving cells do not have cross-carrier scheduling). In an embodiment, three PUCCH resources may be derived from transmissions in DL subframes of the bundling window 300 associated with the UL subframe 350.

The PUCCH resource may also use the first or lowest CCE index (N) of the PDCCH transmitted at PCell 302_CCE) Is allocated to schedule PDSCH on PCell 332 within two DL subframes to implicitly indicate two PUCCH resources. Further, the next lowest N of any one PDCCH transmitted on PCell 302 (for scheduling PDSCH on PCell 332 within two DL subframes) is used_CCE+1 may implicitly indicate yet another PUCCH resource to indicate three PUCCH resources for UL subframe 350. In other embodiments, additional PUCCH resources may be indicated implicitly or explicitly.

Fig. 10 illustrates UL resource allocation for TDD HARQ-ACK multiplexed with PUCCH format 1b with channel selection (where bundling window 300 size equals two and two configured serving cells do not have cross-carrier scheduling). Three PUCCH resources may be derived from transmissions in DL subframes of the bundling window 300 associated with the UL subframe 350. In this embodiment, the TPC field in the DCI corresponding to the PDCCH in DL SCell 304 within two DL subframes as ACK/NAK resource indicator (ARI) bits may be used to explicitly indicate the additional PUCCH resource of UL subframe 350. In fig. 10, two PUCCH resources are implicitly indicated by PDCCH (scheduling PDSCH on PCell 332), and an additional PUCCH resource is explicitly indicated by reusing TPC command as ARI in PDCCH on SCell to indicate a total of three PUCCH resources for UL subframe 350. In other embodiments, additional PUCCH resources may be indicated implicitly or explicitly.

Referring to fig. 11, a device 1100 for use in a wireless communication network 100 may include processing circuitry 1150 including logic (e.g., circuitry, processor, and software, or a combination thereof) for brief bandwidth request/grant as described in one or more of the procedures above. In certain non-limiting embodiments, the device 1100 may generally include a Radio Frequency (RF) interface 1110 and a Media Access Controller (MAC)/baseband processor portion 1150. The elements of fig. 11 may be arranged to provide means for performing the operations and methods described herein.

In an example embodiment, RF interface 1110 may be any component or combination of components configured to transmit and receive multicarrier modulated signals, although the inventive embodiments are not limited to any particular over-the-air (OTA) interface or modulation scheme. RF interface 1110 may include, for example, a receiver 1112, a transmitter 1114, and a frequency synthesizer 1116. Interface 1110 may also include bias controls, crystal oscillators, and/or one or more antennas 1118, 1119, as desired. Further, the RF interface 1110 may alternatively or additionally use an external Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), a surface acoustic wave filter, an Intermediate Frequency (IF) filter, and/or a Radio Frequency (RF) filter, as desired. Various RF interface designs and their operation are known in the art and therefore an extensive description thereof is omitted.

The processing section 1150 may communicate with the RF interface 1110 to process receive/transmit signals and may include, by way of example only: an analog-to-digital converter 1152 for down-converting the received signal; a digital-to-analog converter 1154 for up-converting the signal for transmission; and a baseband processor 1156 (if desired) for Physical (PHY) link layer processing of the corresponding receive/transmit signals. Processing portion 1150 may also include or consist of processing circuitry 1159 for Media Access Control (MAC)/data link layer processing.

In some embodiments, the MAC processing circuit 1159 may include a scheduler 1180, which in conjunction with additional circuitry, such as a buffer memory (not shown) and baseband circuit 1156, may function to perform the previously described methods. Alternatively or in addition, the baseband processing circuit 1156 may perform these processes independently of the MAC processing circuit 1159. MAC and PHY processing may also be integrated into a single circuit, if desired.

The apparatus 1100 may be, for example, a base station, access point, eNodeB, hybrid coordinator, wireless router, or alternatively a fixed or mobile subscriber station, platform, or terminal, such as a UE, that includes a NIC and/or network adapter of a computing device. Thus, the previously described functions and/or specific configurations of the device 1100 may be included or omitted as appropriate, as desired.

Embodiments of device 1100 may also be implemented using a SISO, MISO, or SIMO architecture. However, as shown in fig. 11, certain preferred implementations may include multiple antennas (e.g., 1118, 1119) for transmitting and/or receiving using spatial multiplexing, Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA), beamforming, and/or Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) communication techniques. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may utilize multi-carrier code division multiplexing (MC-CDMA), multi-carrier direct sequence code division multiplexing (MC-DS-CDMA), or single carrier modulation techniques (for OTA link access) or any other modulation or multiplexing scheme compatible with the features of the inventive embodiments.

The following items pertain to further embodiments. The apparatus 1100 is arranged to deploy a PCell in a wireless network comprising the PCell and a secondary cell, SCell, the apparatus 1100 comprising processing circuitry 1150 arranged to allocate PUCCH resources using PDSCH in the PCell, wherein the apparatus is further arranged to indicate PUCCH resources to a UE (e.g. UE 3124) using a first or lowest control channel element index on PDCCH of the PCell and wherein between two and four subframes are used to indicate PUCCH resources. The apparatus 1100 may further comprise a radio interface 1110 arranged to transmit the plurality of DL subframes to the PCell. The apparatus 1100 may be part of an eNodeB (e.g., eNodeB 1114) arranged to communicate with another eNodeB (e.g., eNodeB 2116) for deploying two serving cells to allocate PUCCH resources to a UE.

Further, device 1100 may provide PUCCH resource allocation by transmitting a DL subframe to a UE in PDSCH, wherein PDSCH is indicated by the UE detecting PDCCH on PCell, and wherein PUCCH resources are indicated using a first control channel element index of PDCCH. The UE may be served by the PCell and SCell. Further, cross-carrier scheduling may be used by the PCell to schedule PDSCH on the SCell. Between two and four DL subframes may be used to indicate the first control channel element index of the PDCCH. Further, the device may be arranged to operate compatibly with 3GPP LTE-a release 10.

Additionally, device 1100 (which may be part of an eNodeB) may provide PUCCH resource allocation by transmitting a DL subframe to a UE in a PDSCH of an SCell, where the PDSCH is indicated by detection of the PDCCH on the SCell by the UE, and where the PUCCH resource is indicated using a field in the DCI transmitted on the PDCCH. PUCCH resources may be allocated to the UE for use on the PCell. In other embodiments, the PUCCH resource may be implicitly indicated by detecting the PDCCH on the PCell. Further, the UE may be served by the PCell and SCell using two component carriers. Also, the field may be a TPC field as an ACK/NAK resource indicator bit in DCI corresponding to PDCCH in DL SCell within three DL subframes, wherein the TPC field may be used to explicitly indicate PUCCH resources, and wherein the PUCCH resources are configured by higher layers, e.g., through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

The device 1100 may also be configured for wireless communication in a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell) of a Time Division Duplex (TDD) wireless network (e.g., the wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1), where the PCell and SCell are configured as serving cells for the device. The device 1100 may comprise processing circuitry 1150 arranged to determine a PUCCH resource allocation from a PDSCH in a wireless network, wherein the PUCCH resources are derived from two or more PDSCH subframe transmissions on a PCell and SCell. In this embodiment, the PUCCH may be used to feed HARQ-ACK information back to the eNodeB, e.g., eNodeB 1114. Two to four PUCCH resources may be associated with PDSCH subframe transmissions. Further, PUCCH resources are associated with an Uplink (UL) subframe, wherein PUCCH resources implicitly and/or explicitly indicated or derived by the device are provided to the device for UL signaling in one UL subframe. Additional subframes may be provided in other embodiments. In this embodiment, each PUCCH resource is associated with a subframe transmitted on the PDSCH. In addition, at least one of the PUCCH resources may be indicated using a field in downlink control information transmitted on the PDCCH of the SCell, wherein the field in the downlink control information is a Transmit Power Control (TPC) field. Further, in this embodiment, the apparatus may be part of a UE, a mobile station, or a terminal.

The apparatus 1100 is for wireless communication in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) wireless network, such as the wireless communication network 100 of fig. 1, that includes a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell). The apparatus 1100 may comprise processing circuitry 1150 arranged to allocate PUCCH resources in the wireless network 100 using PDSCH, the PUCCH resources to be transmitted by the UE from one or more PDSCH subframes on the PCell and SCell. Two to four PUCCH resources may be associated with PDSCH subframe transmissions, where PUCCH resources are associated with Uplink (UL) subframes on PUCCH. The UL subframe may be in the same frame as the PDSCH subframe transmission or a subsequent frame. In an embodiment, each PUCCH resource is associated with a subframe transmitted on the PDSCH.

The components and features of device 1100 may be implemented using any combination of discrete circuitry, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), logic gates and/or single chip architectures. Further, the features of device 1100 may be implemented using microcontrollers, programmable logic arrays and/or microprocessors or any combination of the foregoing where suitably appropriate. Note that the hardware, firmware, and/or software elements may collectively or individually be referred to as "logic" or "circuitry".

It should be appreciated that the example apparatus 1100 shown in the block diagram of FIG. 11 represents but one functional descriptive example of many potential implementations that may be combined with a memory device, a processor, an interface such as a display and/or touch screen, a keyboard, and/or a communications port. Accordingly, division, omission or inclusion of block functions depicted in the accompanying figures does not infer that the hardware components, circuits, software and/or elements for implementing these functions would necessarily be divided, omitted, or included in embodiments of the present invention.

Unless a physical possibility is violated, the inventors envision the methods described herein: (i) can be performed in any sequence and/or in any combination; and (ii) the components of the respective embodiments may be combined in any manner.

Embodiments of the invention may include a set of instructions executed upon some form of processing core or otherwise implemented or embodied on or within a machine-readable medium. A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a tangible form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium may include an article of manufacture such as Read Only Memory (ROM); random Access Memory (RAM); a magnetic disk storage medium; an optical storage medium; and flash memory devices, etc. Additionally, a machine-readable medium may include propagated signals such as electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.).

Although an exemplary embodiment of this novel invention has been described, many variations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the inventive embodiments are not limited by the specific disclosure above, but only by the scope of the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims (35)

1. A method for determining Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource allocation, comprising:

a User Equipment (UE) served by a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell) receives a downlink subframe in a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH),

wherein the PDSCH is indicated by detection of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in the PCell, and wherein the PUCCH resources are indicated using a first control channel element index of the PDCCH.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the PUCCH resources are provided for feeding back Time Division Duplex (TDD) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) Acknowledgement (ACK) information.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising using cross-carrier scheduling of PDSCH on the SCell.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein between two and four subframes are used to indicate the first control channel element index of the PDCCH.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed in compliance with third generation partnership project (3 GPP) release 10 long term evolution advanced (LTE-a).

6. A User Equipment (UE) arranged to determine a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource allocation, comprising:

receiving means for receiving a downlink subframe in a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) of a secondary cell (SCell) indicated by detection of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) on the SCell,

wherein the PUCCH resources are indicated using a field in downlink control information transmitted on the PDCCH.

7. The UE of claim 6, wherein the PUCCH resources are further indicated using a primary cell (PCell).

8. The UE of claim 7, wherein the PUCCH resources are implicitly indicated on the PCell and explicitly indicated on the SCell.

9. The UE of claim 6, wherein the UE is served by two serving cells using two component carriers.

10. An apparatus for use in a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry arranged to determine a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource allocation from a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in a wireless environment comprising a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell),

wherein two to four PUCCH resources are implicitly indicated for the PUCCH by one or more PDSCH transmissions on the PCell and SCell.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a radio interface, wherein the radio interface is arranged to receive downlink subframes from the PCell and the SCell.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus is part of a User Equipment (UE) arranged to operate using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) in uplink communications.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the apparatus is further arranged to determine PUCCH resources using downlink control information carried on the PDCCH.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the apparatus is further arranged to receive the PUCCH resources from an evolved node b (enodeb).

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the PUCCH resource is indicated using a first Control Channel Element (CCE) index of a PDCCH on the PCell.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus is further arranged to operate using two component carriers.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the User Equipment (UE) is in the form of a tablet, a smartphone, a netbook, a laptop, or a mobile device.

18. An apparatus for use in a wireless network including a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), the apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry arranged to allocate Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources using a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in the PCell,

wherein the apparatus is further arranged to indicate a PUCCH resource using a first control channel element index on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of the PCell and wherein between two and four subframes are used to indicate the PUCCH resource.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a radio interface arranged to transmit a plurality of downlink subframes in the PCell.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apparatus is part of an evolved node b (eNodeB) arranged to communicate with another eNodeB to deploy two serving cells to allocate the PUCCH resources to a User Equipment (UE).

21. An apparatus for use in a wireless network including a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), the apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry arranged to allocate Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources,

wherein the apparatus is further arranged to indicate at least one of the PUCCH resources using a transmit power control field in downlink control information transmitted on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in the SCell.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the PUCCH resources are configured by a higher layer of an evolved node b (enodeb).

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus provides the PUCCH resources for a User Equipment (UE) to send hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) information to the apparatus.

24. An apparatus for wireless communication in a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell) of a Time Division Duplex (TDD) wireless network, comprising:

processing circuitry arranged to determine a physical uplink control channel (PDCCH) resource allocation from a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in the wireless network,

wherein the PUCCH resources are derived from two or more PDSCH subframe transmissions on the PCell and the SCell.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the PUCCH is used to feed back hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) Acknowledgement (ACK) information to an evolved node b (enodeb).

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein two to four PUCCH resources are associated with the PDSCH subframe transmission.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the PCell and the SCell are set as serving cells of the apparatus.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the PUCCH resources are associated with an Uplink (UL) subframe.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein each PUCCH resource is associated with a subframe transmitted on the PDSCH.

30. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein at least one of the PUCCH resources is indicated using a field in downlink control information transmitted on a PDCCH of the SCell.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the field in the downlink control information is a Transmit Power Control (TPC) field.

32. An apparatus for wireless communication in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) wireless network including a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), comprising:

processing circuitry arranged to allocate Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources using a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in the wireless network,

obtaining, by a User Equipment (UE), the PUCCH resources from one or more PDSCH subframe transmissions on the PCell and the SCell.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein two to four PUCCH resources are associated with the PDSCH subframe transmission.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the PUCCH resource is associated with an Uplink (UL) subframe on the PUCCH.

35. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein each PUCCH resource is associated with a subframe transmitted on the PDSCH.