HK1197779B - Multi-carrier grant design - Google Patents

Description

Multi-carrier grant design

The application is a divisional application of an invention patent application 'multi-carrier authorization design' with an application date of 2009, 8, 12 and an application number of 200980131204.6.

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No.61/088,319 entitled "MULTI-CARRIER DESIGN FOR LTE-a-ultragants" filed on 12.8.2008. The entire contents of the above application are incorporated herein by reference. The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No.61/113,443 entitled "DCI DESIGN FOR multiple CARRIER SYSTEM" filed 11/2008, U.S. provisional patent application No.61/143,146 entitled "DCI DESIGN FOR multiple SYSTEM" filed 1/2009, 7/2008, and U.S. provisional patent application No.61/112,029 entitled "COMMON HARQ processes ID FOR multiple-CARRIER OPERATION" filed 11/2008.

Technical Field

The following description relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to Uplink (UL) grants for multiple carriers.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication; for example, voice and/or data may be provided over these wireless communication systems. A typical wireless communication system or network may provide multiple users access to one or more shared resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, … …). For example, the system may use various multiple access techniques such as Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and so on.

Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile device may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from mobile devices to base stations.

Wireless communication systems typically employ one or more base stations that provide a coverage area. A typical base station can transmit multiple data streams for broadcast, multicast, and/or unicast services, wherein a data stream can be a stream of data that can be independently received by a mobile device of interest. Mobile devices within the coverage area of such base stations can be employed to receive one, more than one, or all of the data streams carried by the composite stream. Similarly, a mobile device can transmit data to a base station or another mobile device.

Area tracking within a wireless communication system enables the definition of tracking area locations for user devices (e.g., mobile devices, mobile communication devices, cellular devices, smart phones, etc.). Typically, the network may request or page a User Equipment (UE), wherein the UE may respond with such tracking area location. This enables the tracking area location of the UE to be transmitted and updated for the network.

Multi-carrier systems typically employ cross-carrier operation that provides good system performance. In a multi-carrier system or environment, a user device can utilize multiple carriers (e.g., a carrier can include an amount or set of resources, an amount of bandwidth, etc.). In multi-carrier operation, a primary carrier (anchor carrier) may be used to convey information related to two or more carriers. Furthermore, the lack of control information may prevent data transmission on these carriers. In other words, the multi-carrier system cannot distinguish which carrier receiving control is applicable. Furthermore, in a multi-carrier system or environment, Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) control allocation can be costly in overhead and User Equipment (UE) allocation monitoring per carrier.

Disclosure of Invention

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

According to a related aspect, a method facilitates allocating resources within a multi-carrier environment. The method may include identifying a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers. Further, the method may include identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective primary carriers. Further, the method may include receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers. The method may further comprise: determining a set of allocated resources on respective carrier groups corresponding to the one or more primary carriers based at least in part on the at least one grant message, wherein the at least one grant message is received on the one or more primary carriers.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus. The wireless communications apparatus can include at least one processor configured to: identifying a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers; identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective primary carriers; receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers; and determining a set of allocated resources on respective carrier groups corresponding to the one or more primary carriers based at least in part on the at least one grant message, wherein the at least one grant message is received on the one or more primary carriers. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

Yet another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus that effectuates resource allocation within a multi-carrier environment. The wireless communications apparatus can include means for identifying a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier in the plurality of carriers. In addition, the wireless communications apparatus can include means for identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective primary carriers. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include means for receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include means for determining a set of allocated resources on respective carrier groups corresponding to the one or more primary carriers based at least in part on the at least one grant message received on the one or more primary carriers.

Yet another aspect relates to a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having code stored thereon, the code causing at least one computer to identify a plurality of carriers in a frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers; identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective primary carriers; receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers; and determining a set of allocated resources on respective carrier groups corresponding to the one or more primary carriers based at least in part on the at least one grant message, wherein the at least one grant message is received on the one or more primary carriers.

According to other aspects, a method facilitates identifying control transmissions based on an operating mode. The method may include identifying an employed operating mode, wherein the employed operating mode is selected from the group consisting of a legacy mode and an extended mode. Further, the method may include: upon identifying the legacy mode, control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth are monitored. Further, the method may comprise: upon identifying the extension pattern, monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with the at least one control region of the primary carrier and at least one control region of one or more additional carriers within the associated system bandwidth.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus. The wireless communications apparatus can include at least one processor configured to: identifying an adopted operating mode, wherein the adopted operating mode is selected from the group consisting of a legacy mode and an extended mode; upon identifying the legacy mode, monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth; and, upon identifying the extension pattern, monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with the at least one control region of the primary carrier and at least one control region of one or more additional carriers within the associated system bandwidth. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus that identifies control transmissions based on an operating mode. The wireless communications apparatus can include means for identifying an operating mode employed, wherein the operating mode employed is selected from a group consisting of a legacy mode and an extended mode. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include means, operative upon identifying the legacy mode, for monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth upon identifying the legacy mode. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include means, operative in identifying the extension mode, for monitoring control transmissions on resources associated with the at least one control region of the primary carrier and at least one control region of one or more additional carriers within the associated system bandwidth upon identifying the extension mode.

Yet another aspect relates to a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having code stored thereon for causing at least one computer to identify an employed operating mode, wherein the employed operating mode is selected from the group consisting of a legacy mode and an extended mode; upon identifying the legacy mode, monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth; and upon identifying the extension pattern, monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with the at least one control region of the primary carrier and at least one control region of one or more additional carriers within the associated system bandwidth.

According to other aspects, a method facilitates transmitting control information for two or more carriers to a User Equipment (UE). The method may include configuring a primary carrier at a predetermined frequency range within a system bandwidth to include a control region detectable by respective user equipment Units (UEs) operating in a legacy mode and respective UEs operating in an extended mode. The method may further include configuring at least one additional carrier at respective non-overlapping frequency ranges within the system bandwidth to include respective control regions detectable by UEs operating in the extended mode and transparent to UEs operating in the legacy mode.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus. The wireless communications apparatus can include at least one processor configured to: configuring a primary carrier at a predetermined frequency range within a system bandwidth to include a control region detectable by respective user equipment Units (UEs) operating in a legacy mode and respective UEs operating in an extended mode; and configuring at least one additional carrier at respective non-overlapping frequency ranges within the system bandwidth to include respective control regions detectable by UEs operating in the extended mode and transparent to UEs operating in the legacy mode. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus that communicates control information. The wireless communications apparatus can include means for configuring a primary carrier at a predetermined frequency range within a system bandwidth to include a control region detectable by respective user equipment Units (UEs) operating in a legacy mode and respective UEs operating in an extended mode. Further, the wireless communications apparatus can include means for configuring at least one additional carrier at respective non-overlapping frequency ranges within the system bandwidth to include respective control regions detectable by UEs operating in the extended mode and transparent to UEs operating in the legacy mode.

Yet another aspect relates to a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having code stored thereon for causing at least one computer to configure a primary carrier at a predetermined frequency range within a system bandwidth to include a control region detectable by respective user equipment Units (UEs) operating in a legacy mode and respective UEs operating in an extended mode; and configuring at least one additional carrier at respective non-overlapping frequency ranges within the system bandwidth to include respective control regions detectable by UEs operating in the extended mode and transparent to UEs operating in the legacy mode.

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

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an illustration of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects set forth herein.

Fig. 2 is an illustration of an example communications apparatus that is employed within a wireless communications environment.

Fig. 3 is an illustration of an example wireless communication system that facilitates allocating resources for multiple carriers.

Fig. 4 is an illustration of an example system that facilitates sending and receiving grants that specify resource allocations for two or more carriers.

Fig. 5 is an illustration of an example system that facilitates communicating resource allocation grants for multiple carriers utilizing a primary carrier.

Fig. 6 is an illustration of an example of authorization information created in accordance with the present subject matter.

Fig. 7 is an illustration of an example of authorization information created in accordance with the present subject matter.

Fig. 8 is an illustration of an example system that facilitates identifying control transmissions based on an operating mode.

Fig. 9 is an illustration of an example system that facilitates implementing control regions for wireless communication.

Fig. 10 is an illustration of an example methodology that facilitates allocating resources within a multi-carrier environment.

Fig. 11 is an illustration of an example methodology that facilitates identifying control transmissions based upon an operating mode.

Fig. 12 is an illustration of an example methodology that facilitates communicating control information for two or more carriers to a User Equipment (UE).

Fig. 13 is an illustration of an example mobile device that facilitates allocating resources for multiple carriers in a wireless communication system.

Fig. 14 is an illustration of an example system that facilitates allocating resources for a plurality of carriers in a wireless communication environment.

Fig. 15 is an illustration of an example wireless network environment that can be employed in conjunction with the various systems and methods described herein.

Fig. 16 is an illustration of an example system that facilitates allocating resources within a multi-carrier environment.

Fig. 17 is an illustration of an example system that identifies control transmissions based upon an operating mode in a wireless communication environment.

Fig. 18 is an illustration of an example system that communicates control information for two or more carriers to a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communication environment.

Detailed Description

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

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

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and others. The terms "system" and "network" may often be used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), CDMA2000, and so on. UTRA includes wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. TDMA systems may implement radio technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). The OFDMA system may implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE802.16(WiMAX), IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are parts of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology is a prospective version of UMTS that uses E-UTRA, which employs OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink.

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

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

Furthermore, various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips, etc.), optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., EPROM, card, stick, key disk, etc.). In addition, various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" can include, but is not limited to: wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.

Referring now to fig. 1, a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated in accordance with various embodiments presented herein. System 100 comprises a base station 102 that can include multiple antenna groups. For example, one antenna group can include antennas 104 and 106, another group can include antennas 108 and 110, and an additional group can include antennas 112 and 114. Two antennas are shown for each antenna group; however, more or fewer antennas may be used per group. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that base station 102 can additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turn comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.).

Base station 102 can communicate with one or more mobile devices (e.g., mobile device 116 and mobile device 122); however, it should be appreciated that base station 102 can communicate with virtually any number of mobile devices similar to mobile devices 116 and 122. Mobile devices 116 and 122 can be, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over wireless communication system 100. As depicted, mobile device 116 is in communication with antennas 112 and 114, where antennas 112 and 114 transmit information to mobile device 116 over a forward link 118 and receive information from mobile device 116 over a reverse link 120. In addition, mobile device 112 is in communication with antennas 104 and 106, where antennas 104 and 106 transmit information to mobile device 122 over a forward link 124 and receive information from mobile device 122 over a reverse link 126. In a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, forward link 118 can utilize a different frequency band than that used by reverse link 120, and forward link 124 can employ a different frequency band than that employed by reverse link 126, for example. Further, in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, forward link 118 and reverse link 120 can utilize a common frequency band and forward link 124 and reverse link 126 can utilize a common frequency band.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which each group of antennas is designated to communicate can be referred to as a sector of base station 102. For example, antenna groups can be designated to communicate to mobile devices in a sector of the areas covered by base station 102. In communication over forward links 118 and 124, the transmitting antennas of base station 102 can utilize beamforming to improve signal-to-noise ratio of forward links 118 and 124 for mobile devices 116 and 122. Moreover, mobile devices in neighboring cells can experience less interference when base station 102 utilizes beamforming to transmit to mobile devices 116 and 122 scattered randomly through an associated coverage area as compared to a case where the base station transmits through a single antenna to all of its mobile devices.

Base station 102 (and/or each sector of base station 102) may employ one or more multiple access techniques (e.g., CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA … …). For example, base station 102 can communicate with mobile devices (e.g., mobile devices 116 and 122) over corresponding bandwidths utilizing a particular technology. Further, if more than one technology is employed by base station 102, each technology can be associated with a respective bandwidth. The techniques described herein may include: global system for mobile communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), cdmaOne (IS-95), CDMA2000, evolution data optimized (EV-DO), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), MediaFLO, Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), digital video broadcasting-handheld reception (DVB-H), and so forth. It should be appreciated that the techniques listed above are provided as examples and claimed subject matter is not so limited; rather, substantially any wireless communication technology is intended to be within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Base station 102 may employ a first bandwidth in a first technology. Further, base station 102 can transmit pilots corresponding to the first technology on a second bandwidth. The second bandwidth can be utilized by base station 102 and/or any disparate base station (not shown) for communications utilizing any second technology as described. Further, the pilot can indicate the presence of the first technology (e.g., to a mobile device communicating over the second technology). For example, the pilot may use a bit (or multiple bits) to carry information about the presence of the first technology. In addition, information such as a sector id (sectorid) of a sector using the first technology, a carrier index (CarrierIndex) indicating the first frequency bandwidth, etc. may be included in the pilot.

According to another example, the pilot can be a beacon (and/or a series of beacons). The beacon may be an OFDM symbol for which most of the power is transmitted on one subcarrier or a few subcarriers (e.g., a small number of subcarriers). Thus, when interference occurs with data on a narrow portion of the bandwidth (e.g., the remainder of the bandwidth may not be affected by the beacon), the beacon provides a strong peak that may be observed by the mobile device. According to this example, a first sector can communicate over CDMA over a first bandwidth and a second sector can communicate over OFDM over a second bandwidth. Thus, the first sector can indicate CDMA availability on the first bandwidth (e.g., to mobile devices that are operating with OFDM on the second bandwidth) by transmitting an OFDM beacon (or series of OFDM beacons) on the second bandwidth.

The subject innovation can provide for allocation of resources associated with multiple carriers based on a grant message received from a primary carrier. In other words, the primary carrier may transmit a grant message, wherein the grant message may include resource allocations for multiple carriers (e.g., the primary carrier, additional carriers, etc.). In an example, the grant message may be carrier specific, with the grant message being encoded independently for each carrier. In another example, the grant message may be jointly encoded, wherein the resource information is common to the designated carriers.

In addition, the subject innovation can enable efficient identification of control information for a User Equipment (UE). For example, an operational mode may be identified, wherein the operational mode may be a legacy (legacy) mode or an extended mode. Based on the identified operating mode, control information may be monitored in a particular control region within the primary carrier bandwidth. In other words, control information of a User Equipment (UE) may be identified within a particular control region based on whether in a legacy mode or an extended mode.

Turning to fig. 2, illustrated is a communications apparatus 200 that employs within a wireless communication environment. The communications apparatus 200 can be a base station or a portion of a base station, a mobile device or a portion of a mobile device, or substantially any communications apparatus that receives data transmitted in a wireless communication environment. In a communication system, the communications apparatus 200 employs the components described below to facilitate identifying control information and allocating resources for multiple carriers.

The communications apparatus 200 can include an authorization processing module 202 and/or a resource configuration module 204. The grant processing module 202 may receive a grant message from a primary carrier that includes a resource allocation for two or more carriers. The resource configuration module 204 may manage the setting and configuration of resources for two or more carriers based at least in part on the received grant message.

Further, the communications apparatus 200 can also enable the adoption and identification of operational modes, wherein control information can be monitored in various areas based on a particular operational mode. For example, if the first mode of operation is identified, control transmissions on resources associated with the control region of the primary carrier may be monitored. Further, if the second mode of operation is identified, control transmissions on resources associated with the control region of the primary carrier and the control region of the additional carrier may be monitored.

Further, although not shown, it should be appreciated that communications apparatus 200 may include memory that retains instructions for: identifying a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers; identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective primary carriers; receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers; a set of allocated resources, etc., on respective carrier groups corresponding to one or more primary carriers on which the at least one grant message was received is determined based at least in part on the at least one grant message. Further, the communications apparatus 200 can include a processor that can be utilized in connection with executing instructions (e.g., instructions retained within a memory, instructions … … obtained from disparate sources).

Additionally, although not shown, it should be appreciated that communications apparatus 200 may include memory that retains instructions for: identifying an employed operating mode, wherein the employed operating mode is selected from the group consisting of a legacy mode and an extended mode; monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth once a legacy mode is identified; monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth and control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of one or more additional carriers within the associated system bandwidth once an extension pattern is identified; and so on. Further, the communications apparatus 200 can include a processor that can be utilized in connection with executing instructions (e.g., instructions retained within a memory, instructions … … obtained from disparate sources).

Referring now to fig. 3, illustrated is a wireless communication system 300 that can provide resource allocation for multiple carriers. System 300 includes a base station 302 that communicates with a user device 304 (and/or any number of disparate user devices (not shown)). Base station 302 can transmit information to user device 304 on a forward link channel; further, base station 302 can receive information from user devices 304 on a reverse link channel. Further, system 300 can be a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. Additionally, system 300 can operate in an OFDMA wireless network, a 3GPP LTE wireless network, and the like. Further, in one example, the components and functionality shown and described below in the base station 302 can also be present in the user device 304, and vice versa; for ease of explanation, these components are not included in the depicted structure.

The base station 302 includes a resource authorization module 306. The resource grant module 306 may create a grant message indicating resource allocation for at least one primary carrier and/or at least one additional carrier. Base station 302 may also include a carrier organization module 308. The carrier organization module 308 may aggregate resource information from at least one primary carrier and/or at least one additional carrier to create a grant message to indicate resource allocation.

The user device 304 can include a grant processing module 310 that evaluates received grant messages to identify resource allocations for at least one primary carrier and/or at least one additional carrier. The user device 304 can also include a resource configuration module 312 that can configure the user device 304 based at least in part on the grant message and the indicated resource allocation of the at least one primary carrier and/or the at least one additional carrier.

For Uplink (UL) control, legacy control regions may be reserved on the primary carrier. For example, the legacy control region may be on the edge of the legacy segment and may be used to control legacy UEs and Rel-9/10 UEs. Furthermore, a new control area may be implemented. The new control region may be used to control a Rel-9/10 UE. The exact frequency locations may be defined in additional SIBs. For example, the location may be on a primary carrier within the legacy data portion and/or on a new non-legacy carrier. This may enable diversity and protection based on frequency-different RBs and frequency hopping and frequency coordination to protect the frequency band.

For an Uplink (UL) grant, a legacy UE may receive an UL grant on a primary carrier and allocate resources on the UL carrier paired with the primary carrier. In a Rel-9/10UE, an UL grant on a primary carrier may allocate UL resources on an UL carrier defined as the primary carrier. For example, an UL carrier is paired with a DL carrier defined as a primary carrier. UL allocations across multiple UL carriers may assume joint or independent data coding. This may be communicated to the UE in an authorization message. Joint coding may be used for OFDMA based UL or multi-PA UEs with SC-FDM based UL. This can be considered a new authorization format.

Further, it should be appreciated that an UL grant on a DL carrier other than the primary carrier may allocate resources for the UL carrier paired with the DL carrier as well as legacy UEs. Thus, multiple grants across multiple carriers may be concatenated to convey an aggregated allocation.

For multi-carrier DL DCI formats, the DL grant overhead in a multi-carrier system may be different depending on how the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) and Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS) information for each carrier is conveyed to the UE. A single multi-carrier grant may have additional bits for a separate MCS for each carrier (e.g., 5 bits per carrier). Multiple Rel-8 based grants sent separately on each carrier may have additional bits for MCS, flag, HARQ process ID, Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) for each carrier (e.g., 25 bits per carrier). Therefore, the MC grant format is desirable. Common fields such as CRC, HARQ process ID and flags may be kept from being duplicated possibly with independent grants for each carrier.

For HARQ operation, if separate Rel-8 grants per carrier are used, separate HARQ processes may be defined for each carrier. If a multi-carrier grant is used, a common HARQ process may be used across all carriers. This may be an extension of the multiple codeword design for MIMO and may be applied to MIMO and Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) cases. A New Data Indicator (NDI) may be used in conjunction with the HARQ process ID information (e.g., NDI per carrier per codeword in the MIMO case, NDI per carrier in the SIMO case, etc.). This scheme may provide full flexibility in allocating data on some or all carriers of a certain TTI with or without codeword gaps (for MIMO).

This scheme may reduce overhead relative to independent HARQ IDs per carrier (e.g., 3 bits compared to N x 3 bits, where N is the number of carriers). This scheme may be a less flexible operation in scheduling certain retransmissions corresponding to different HARQ processes simultaneously than the approach where each carrier has an independent HARQ id. For example, if there are pending retransmissions for HARQ process ID1 for the first carrier and pending retransmissions for HARQ process IDs 0 and 1 for the second carrier. With separate HARQ process IDs, it is possible to schedule a retransmission of HARQ process ID1 for the first carrier and a retransmission of HARQ process ID0 for the second carrier together. Using the common HARQ process ID, it is possible to schedule a new transmission for the HARQ process ID0 for the first carrier and a retransmission for the HARQ process ID0 for the second carrier together. Retransmission of the HARQ process ID1 for the first carrier may be delayed. This limitation is mostly imposed in unusual cases, e.g. in scheduling processes where all UE retransmissions are prioritized, so it is unlikely that a UE has several pending retransmissions corresponding to different HARQ process IDs.

Although LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced) must support Rel-8 control, it would still benefit from introducing new aspects that enhance the functionality of LTE-Advanced by leveraging new features introduced into LTE-Advanced. The subject innovation proposes the benefits of introducing multi-carrier DL and UL allocations. Multi-carrier allocations are more suitable for multi-carrier configurations because they can provide a reduction in overhead and possibly reduce user equipment allocation monitoring for one carrier as compared to single carrier Rel-8 allocations. Possible multicarrier DCI formats for DL and UL are also provided.

Rel-8 allocations sent on one DL carrier allocate DL/UL resources to the target UE on the same DL carrier/corresponding UL carrier. In addition to Rel-8 allocation, it would also benefit from introducing multi-carrier allocation for LTE-advanced, which is more suitable for multi-carrier configuration and provides a reduction in overhead compared to single carrier Rel-8 allocation.

The multi-carrier grant allocates resources to multiple carriers. There is less overhead because common fields across multiple carriers (e.g., CRC, HARQ process ID, and flags) are not repeated in the case of multiple Rel-8 grants for multi-carrier allocation.

The multi-carrier allocation may be on any DL carrier and resources may be allocated for any DL/UL carrier. If primary carriers are configured as described in [1], they will provide reliable control coverage and the multi-carrier allocation should be on these primary carriers by default. The multi-carrier assignment sent on the primary carrier provides reliable data scheduling on carriers that may not be able to reliably transmit control. The RRC signaling will inform the UE if there are additional DL carriers to monitor for possible multi-carrier allocations.

A Rel-8UL grant sent on one DL carrier allocates UL resources to a target UE on the UL paired with that DL carrier. Similar to the case of DL allocation, it would benefit from defining a UL multi-carrier grant that allocates UL resources for multiple carriers from the UE allocation monitoring and overhead point of view. Multi-carrier UL allocation requires a Mew DCI format. The multi-carrier DCI format for UL-SCH allocation is given in table 1 and is based on Rel-8 format 0.

TABLE 1

The subject innovation proposes the benefit of introducing multicarrier DL and UL allocations. Multi-carrier allocations are more suitable for multi-carrier configurations because they may provide reduced overhead and possibly reduced UE allocation monitoring for one (primary) carrier compared to single carrier Rel-8 allocations. Also, multi-carrier allocation is beneficial because it can be used to schedule data on a carrier, which control may not be reliable.

Further, although not shown, it is to be appreciated that base station 302 can include memory that retains instructions regarding: identifying a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers; identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective primary carriers; receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers; a set of allocated resources, etc., on respective carrier groups corresponding to one or more primary carriers on which the at least one grant message was received is determined based at least in part on the at least one grant message. Further, the communications apparatus 200 can include a processor that can be utilized in connection with executing instructions (e.g., instructions retained within a memory, instructions … … obtained from disparate sources).

Additionally, although not shown, it is to be appreciated that the base station 302 can include memory that retains instructions regarding: identifying an employed operating mode, wherein the employed operating mode is selected from the group consisting of a legacy mode and an extended mode; monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth once a legacy mode is identified; once the extension pattern is identified, control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth are monitored, as well as control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of one or more additional carriers within an associated system bandwidth, and so on. Further, the communications apparatus 200 can include a processor for use in connection with executing instructions (e.g., instructions stored in a memory, instructions … … obtained from a disparate source).

Additionally, although not shown, it is to be appreciated that the base station 302 can include memory that retains instructions regarding: configuring a primary carrier at a predetermined frequency range within a system bandwidth to include a control region detectable by respective user equipment Units (UEs) operating in a legacy mode and respective UEs operating in an extended mode; at least one additional carrier is configured at respective non-overlapping frequency ranges within a system bandwidth to include respective control regions detectable by UEs operating in the extended mode and transparent to UEs operating in the legacy mode, and so on. Further, the communications apparatus 200 can include a processor for use in connection with executing instructions (e.g., instructions stored in a memory, instructions … … obtained from a disparate source).

Referring now to fig. 4, an exemplary wireless communication system 400 can provide for transmission and reception of grants specifying resource allocations for two or more carriers. System 400 may include a system controller 410, which may be associated with any suitable number of eNBs (e.g., eNBs)₁420a to eNB_k420k) Communication is performed, where k is a positive integer. An eNB may be with any suitable number of User Equipments (UEs) (e.g., UEs)₁430a to the UE_N430 n), where n is a positive integer.

The system controller 410 can include a resource grant module 412 that can create and transmit a grant message indicating carrier resource information and/or carrier resource allocation information. For example, the grant message may include resource allocations for multiple carriers, wherein the grant message may be transmitted over the primary carrier. The system controller 410 may also include a carrier organization module 414 that may aggregate and/or collect resource information related to various carriers within the wireless communication environment.

The eNB may include an authorization processing module 422 and/or a resource configuration module 424. It should be appreciated that authorization processing module 422 and/or resource configuration module 424 may be included within any suitable eNB (e.g., eNB420 a) and/or any suitable UE (e.g., UE430 a). The grant processing module 422 may receive the grant message over the primary carrier and determine or ascertain the resources of two or more carriers (e.g., the primary carrier and the additional carrier). In addition, resource configuration module 424 may configure and/or manage resources for each carrier based at least in part on the received grant message.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example system 500 that facilitates utilizing a primary carrier to communicate resource allocation grants for a plurality of carriers. System 500 may include a resource authorization module 412 and an authorization processing module 422. It should be appreciated that the resource grant module 412 can create and transmit a grant message that includes resource allocations for at least one primary carrier 510 and at least one additional carrier 520.

Turning to fig. 6 and 7, an example of authorization information is depicted in accordance with the subject innovation. Fig. 6 illustrates common grant information 600 (e.g., HARQ process ID, TPC, CRC, etc.), wherein common grant information 600 may include per-carrier grant information. For example, the grant information per carrier may be, but is not limited to, resource allocation information, MCS, NDI, and the like. Fig. 7 illustrates common grant information 700 that provides per-carrier grant information for non-scheduled carriers and scheduled carriers. The common grant information 700 may be HARQ process ID, TPC, CRC, etc. Further, the grant information per carrier may be, but is not limited to, resource allocation information, MCS, NDI, etc.

Fig. 8 illustrates an exemplary system 800 that facilitates identifying control transmissions based upon an operating mode. System 800 can include an eNB810 that can communicate with a UE (legacy) 820 and/or a UE (extended) 830. System 800 can enable a UE to monitor control information based upon an identified operating mode. It will be appreciated that solid double-headed arrows indicate communication with the primary carrier, while dashed double-headed arrows indicate communication with the additional carrier. The eNB810 may include a resource configuration module 812 and/or a control source 814. Control source 814 may provide control information. The configuration module 812 may configure the primary carrier and/or the additional carrier at a predetermined frequency range within the bandwidth to provide control information to the respective UEs based on the operation mode (e.g., legacy, extended, etc.).

UE (legacy) 820 may include a resource monitoring module (primary carrier) 822 that may enable the UE to monitor control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of the primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth based on an operating mode that is a legacy mode. UE (extension) 830 may include a resource monitoring module (primary carrier) 822 and a resource monitoring module (additional carrier) 832. A resource monitoring module (primary carrier) 822 within UE (extension) 830 may monitor for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of the primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth based on an operating mode that is an extension mode. A resource monitoring module (additional carrier) 832 within UE (extension) 830 may monitor for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of the additional carrier within the associated system bandwidth based on the operating mode being an extension mode. Further, it should be appreciated that the UE may determine the respective operating modes to determine which control information of the control regions to monitor.

FIG. 9An exemplary system 900 that facilitates implementing a control region for wireless communication is depicted. It should be appreciated that system 900 is merely an exemplary configuration and does not limit the subject innovation. System 900 may include an exemplary system bandwidth 902 indicating control information, bandwidth 902 including B (total bandwidth), B₁(first edge), B₀(portion between the first edge and the second edge) and B₂(second edge). Bandwidth 902 illustrates the legacy segments, legacy control regions, extended segments, and portions of the bandwidth of the extended control regions.

System 900 also includes a bandwidth 904 indicating control information that frequency hopping is utilized. Bandwidth 904 includes B (total bandwidth), B₁(first edge), B₀(portion between the first edge and the second edge) and B₂(second edge). Bandwidth 904 illustrates the legacy segments, legacy control regions, extended segments, and portions of the bandwidth of the extended control regions.

Referring to fig. 10-12, methodologies relating to providing uplink timing control while reducing overhead and power consumption are illustrated. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Turning to fig. 10, illustrated is a methodology 1000 that facilitates allocating resources within a multi-carrier environment. At reference numeral 1002, a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers can be identified. At reference numeral 1004, respective relationships between respective primary carriers and groups of carriers corresponding to the respective primary carriers can be identified. At reference numeral 1006, at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers can be received. At reference numeral 1008, a set of allocated resources on respective carrier groups corresponding to the one or more primary carriers on which the at least one grant message was received can be determined based at least in part on the at least one grant message.

Referring now to fig. 11, illustrated is a methodology 1100 that facilitates identifying control transmissions based upon an operating mode. At reference numeral 1102, an employed operating mode can be identified, wherein the employed operating mode is selected from the group consisting of a legacy mode and an extended mode. At reference numeral 1104, once the legacy mode is identified, control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth can be monitored. At reference numeral 1006, once the extended mode is identified, control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth and control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of one or more additional carriers within the associated system bandwidth can be monitored.

Referring to fig. 12, illustrated is a methodology 1200 that facilitates transmitting control information for two or more carriers to a User Equipment (UE). At numeral 1202, a primary carrier can be configured at a predetermined frequency range within a system bandwidth to include a control region detectable by respective user equipment Units (UEs) operating in a legacy mode and respective UEs operating in an extended mode. At reference numeral 1204, at least one additional carrier can be configured at respective non-overlapping frequency ranges within the system bandwidth to include respective control regions detectable by UEs operating in the extended mode and transparent to UEs operating in the legacy mode.

Fig. 13 is an illustration of a mobile device 1300 that facilitates allocating resources for a plurality of carriers in a wireless communication system. Mobile device 1300 comprises a receiver 1302 that receives a signal from, for instance, a receive antenna (not shown), performs typical operations on (e.g., filters, amplifies, downconverts, etc.) the received signal, and digitizes the conditioned signal to obtain samples. Receiver 1302 can comprise a demodulator 1304 that can demodulate received symbols and provide them to a processor 1306 for channel estimation. Processor 1306 can be a processor dedicated to analyzing information received by receiver 1302 and/or generating information for transmission by a transmitter 1316, a processor that controls one or more components of mobile device 1300, and/or a processor that both analyzes information received by receiver 1302, generates information for transmission by transmitter 1316, and controls one or more components of mobile device 1300.

Mobile device 1300 may additionally comprise memory 1308 that is operatively coupled to processor 1306 and that may store data to be transmitted, received data, information related to available channels, data associated with analyzed signal and/or interference strength, information related to an assigned channel, power, rate, or the like, and any other suitable information for estimating a channel and communicating via the channel. Memory 1308 can additionally store protocols and/or algorithms associated with estimating and/or utilizing a channel (e.g., performance based, capacity based, etc.).

It will be appreciated that the data store (e.g., memory 1308) described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include Read Only Memory (ROM), programmable ROM (prom), electrically programmable ROM (eprom), electrically erasable prom (eeprom), or flash memory. Volatile memory can include Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms, such as Synchronous RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 1308 of the subject systems and methods is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Processor 1306 may also be operatively coupled to authorization processing module 1310 and/or resource configuration module 1312. The grant processing module 1310 may receive a grant message from a primary carrier including a resource allocation of two or more carriers. Resource configuration module 1312 may manage the setting and configuration of resources for two or more carriers based at least in part on the received grant messages.

Mobile device 1300 also comprises a modulator 1314 and transmitter 1316 that respectively modulate and transmit signals to, for instance, a base station, another mobile device, etc. Although depicted as being separate from the processor 1306, it is to be appreciated that the authorization processing module 1310, resource configuration module 1312, demodulator 1304, and/or modulator 1314 can be part of the processor 1306 or processors (not shown).

Fig. 14 is an illustration of a system 1400 that facilitates allocating resources for a plurality of carriers in a wireless communication environment as described supra. System 1400 includes a base station 1402 (e.g., access point … …) that has a receiver 1410 and a transmitter 1424, where receiver 1410 receives signals from one or more mobile devices 1404 through a plurality of receive antennas 1406 and transmitter 1424 transmits signals to the one or more mobile devices 1404 through transmit antennas 1408. Receiver 1410 can receive information from receive antennas 1406 and is operatively associated with a demodulator 1412 that demodulates received information. Demodulated symbols can be analyzed by a processor 1414, which processor 1414 can be similar to that described above with respect to fig. 13, and coupled to a memory 1416, which memory 1416 can store information related to estimating signal (e.g., pilot) strength and/or interference strength, data to be transmitted or received from mobile device 1404 (or a disparate base station (not shown)), and/or any other suitable information related to performing various operations and functions set forth herein.

The processor 1414 is further coupled to a grant processing module 1418, and the grant processing module 1418 can receive a grant message from a primary carrier that includes a resource allocation of two or more carriers. Further, processor 1414 can be coupled to resource configuration module 1420, and resource configuration module 1420 can manage setting and configuration of resources for two or more carriers based at least in part on the received grant message. Further, although depicted as being separate from the processor 1414, it is to be appreciated that authorization processing module 1418, resource configuration module 1420, demodulator 1412 and/or modulator 1422 can be part of the processor 1414 or multiple processors (not shown).

Fig. 15 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 1500. For purposes of simplicity of explanation, the wireless communication system 1500 depicts one base station 1510 and one mobile device 1550. However, it is to be appreciated that system 1500 can include more than one base station and/or more than one mobile device, wherein additional base stations and/or mobile devices can be substantially similar or different from example base station 1510 and mobile device 1550 described below. Moreover, it is to be appreciated that base station 1510 and/or mobile device 1550 can employ the systems (fig. 1-9, 13-14, and 16-18) and/or methods (fig. 10-12) described herein to facilitate wireless communication there between.

At base station 1510, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source 1512 to a Transmit (TX) data processor 1514. According to an example, each data stream can be transmitted on a respective antenna. TX data processor 1514 formats, codes, and interleaves the traffic data stream based on a particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream can be multiplexed with pilot data using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) techniques. Additionally or alternatively, the pilot symbols may be Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), Time Division Multiplexed (TDM), or Code Division Multiplexed (CDM). The pilot data is typically a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner and can be used at mobile device 1550 to estimate the channel response. The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream can be modulated (e.g., symbol mapped) based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.) selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream can be determined by instructions performed or provided by processor 1530.

The modulation symbols for the data streams can be provided to a TX MIMO processor 1520, which can further process the modulation symbols (e.g., for OFDM). Then, the TX MIMO processor 1520 combines N_TOne modulation symbol stream is provided to N_TA transmitter (TMTR) 1522a through 1522 t. In various embodiments, TX MIMO processor 1520 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol is being transmitted.

Each transmitter 1522 receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. In addition, from N_TN from transmitters 1522a through 1522t are transmitted by multiple antennas 1524a through 1524t, respectively_TA modulated signal.

At mobile device 1550, by N_RThe transmitted modulated signals are received by a plurality of antennas 1552a through 1552r and the received signal from each antenna 1552 is provided to a respective receiver (RCVR) 1554a through 1554 r. Each receiver 1554 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a respective signal, digitizes the conditioned signal to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding "received" symbol stream.

RX data processor 1560 may receive and process data from N based on a particular receiver processing technique_RN of receiver 1554_RA stream of received symbols to provide N_TA stream of "detected" symbols. RX data processor 1560 can demodulate, deinterleave, and decode each detected symbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. The processing by RX data processor 1560 is complementary to that performed by TX MIMO processor 1520 and TX data processor 1514 at base station 1510.

A processor 1570 can periodically determine which precoding matrix to use as discussed above. Further, processor 1570 can formulate a reverse link message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion.

The reverse link message may comprise various information regarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. The reverse link message can be processed by a TX data processor 1538, modulated by a modulator 1580, conditioned by transmitters 1554a through 1554r, and transmitted back to base station 1510, where TX data processor 1538 also receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a data source 1536.

At base station 1510, the modulated signals from mobile device 1550 are received by antennas 1524, conditioned by receivers 1522, demodulated by a demodulator 1540, and processed by a RX data processor 1542 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by mobile device 1550. Further, processor 1530 can process the extracted message to determine which precoding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights.

Processors 1530 and 1570 can direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage, etc.) operation at base station 1510 and mobile device 1550, respectively. Processors 1530 and 1570 can be associated with memory 1532 and 1572, respectively, that store program codes and data. Processors 1530 and 1570 can also perform computations to derive frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

When the embodiments are implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, program code or code segments, they may be stored in a machine-readable medium, such as a storage component. A code segment may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted using any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

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

Referring to fig. 16, illustrated is a system 1600 that allocates resources within a multi-carrier environment. For example, system 1600 can reside at least partially within a base station, mobile device, etc. It is to be appreciated that system 1600 is represented as including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1600 includes a logical grouping 1602 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. Logical grouping 1602 can include an electrical component for identifying a plurality of carriers in a frequency and at least one primary carrier in the plurality of carriers 1604. Further, logical grouping 1602 can include an electrical component for identifying respective relationships between respective host carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective host carriers 1606. Moreover, logical grouping 1602 can include an electrical component for receiving at least one grant message on one or more host carriers 1608. Logical grouping 1602 can also include an electrical component for determining a set of allocated resources on a respective carrier group corresponding to one or more primary carriers on which the at least one grant message was received 1610 based at least in part on the at least one grant message. Additionally, system 1600 can include a memory 1612 that retains instructions for executing functions associated with electrical components 1604, 1606, 1608, and 1610. While electronic components 1604, 1606, 1608, and 1610 are shown as being external to memory 1612, it is to be understood that one or more of electronic components 1604, 1606, 1608, and 1610 can exist within memory 1612.

Turning to fig. 17, illustrated is a system 1700 that identifies control transmissions based upon an operating mode in a wireless communication environment. For example, system 1700 can reside within a base station, mobile device, etc. As depicted, system 1700 includes functional blocks that can represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). Logical grouping 1702 can include an electrical component for identifying an employed operational mode, wherein the employed operational mode is selected from the group consisting of a legacy mode and an extended mode 1704. Moreover, logical grouping 1702 can include an electrical component for monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth upon identifying a legacy mode 1706. Moreover, logical grouping 1702 can include an electrical component for monitoring for control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of a primary carrier within an associated system bandwidth and control transmissions on resources associated with at least one control region of one or more additional carriers within the associated system bandwidth upon identification of an extended mode 1708. Additionally, system 1700 can include a memory 1710 that retains instructions for executing functions associated with electrical components 1704, 1706, and 1708. While electrical components 1704, 1706, and 1708 are shown as being external to memory 1710, it is to be understood that electrical components 1704, 1706, and 1708 can exist within memory 1710.

Turning to fig. 18, illustrated is a system 1800 that facilitates communicating control information for two or more carriers to a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communication environment. System 1800 can reside within a base station, mobile device, etc., for instance. As depicted, system 1800 includes functional blocks that can represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). Logical grouping 1802 can include an electrical component for configuring a primary carrier at a predetermined frequency range within a system bandwidth to include a control region detectable by respective user equipment Units (UEs) operating in a legacy mode and respective UEs operating in an extended mode 1804. Moreover, logical grouping 1802 can include an electrical component for configuring at least one additional carrier at respective non-overlapping frequency ranges within a system bandwidth to include respective control regions detectable by UEs operating in the extended mode and transparent to UEs operating in the legacy mode 1806. Additionally, system 1800 can include a memory 1808 that retains instructions for executing functions associated with electrical components 1804 and 1806. While electronic components 1804 and 1806 are shown as being external to memory 1808, it is to be understood that electronic components 1804 and 1806 can exist within memory 1808.

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

Claims (3)

1. A method for use in a wireless communication system for allocating resources within a multi-carrier environment, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers;

identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective primary carriers;

receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers; and

determining a set of allocated resources on respective carrier groups corresponding to the one or more primary carriers based at least in part on the at least one grant message, wherein the at least one grant message is received on the one or more primary carriers,

wherein the receiving comprises receiving a jointly encoded grant message encoded to provide information related to allocated resources on respective carriers corresponding to a primary carrier on which the grant message was received.

2. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor configured to:

identifying a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers;

identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and carrier groups corresponding to the respective primary carriers;

receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers;

determining a set of allocated resources on respective carrier groups corresponding to the one or more primary carriers based at least in part on the at least one grant message, wherein the at least one grant message is received on the one or more primary carriers,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a jointly encoded grant message encoded to provide information related to allocated resources on respective carriers corresponding to a primary carrier on which the grant message was received;

and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

3. A wireless communications apparatus that allocates resources in a multi-carrier environment, comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of carriers in frequency and at least one primary carrier of the plurality of carriers;

means for identifying respective relationships between respective primary carriers and groups of carriers corresponding to the respective primary carriers;

means for receiving at least one grant message on one or more primary carriers; and

means for determining a set of allocated resources on respective carrier groups corresponding to the one or more primary carriers based at least in part on the at least one grant message, wherein the at least one grant message is received on the one or more primary carriers,

wherein the receiving comprises receiving a jointly encoded grant message encoded to provide information related to allocated resources on respective carriers corresponding to a primary carrier on which the grant message was received.