Uplink procedures on a shared communication medium

• US 10,477,526 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2017
• Issued: 11/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chendamarai Kannan, Arumugam, Patel, Chirag Sureshbhai, Luo, Tao, Kadous, Tamer Adel
• Primary Examiner(s): Islam, Rownak
• Application Number:
  US15/617,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20170359815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 887 Days
• Field of Search: 370329, 370336
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1822 involving configuration of automatic repeat request [ARQ] with parallel processes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1854 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1861 Physical mapping arrangements for ACK signaling see also H04L5/0053
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1887 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0057 Physical resource allocation for CQI
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1215 for collaboration of different radio technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference

Abstract

The present disclosure relates generally to uplink procedures on a shared communication medium. In an aspect, an access terminal receives a downlink subframe from an access point on the shared communication medium and, in response to receiving the downlink subframe, transmits uplink control information (UCI) for the downlink subframe on a first uplink subframe of a first UCI channel of a plurality of UCI channels.

Claims

1. A method of communicating on a shared communication medium, comprising:

receiving, at an access terminal, a downlink subframe from an access point on the shared communication medium;

in response to receiving the downlink subframe, transmitting, by the access terminal, uplink control information (UCI) for the downlink subframe on a first uplink subframe of a first UCI channel of a plurality of UCI channels; and

in response to receiving the downlink subframe, transmitting, by the access terminal, the UCI on a second uplink subframe of a second UCI channel of the plurality of UCI channels, wherein the UCI is transmitted on the second uplink subframe of the second UCI channel only before expiration of a configured time duration.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first UCI channel is a first available UCI channel of the plurality of UCI channels.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the access terminal is configured to transmit all UCI for all received downlink frames on the first UCI channel, regardless of availability of other UCI channels of the plurality of UCI channels.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the access terminal does not repeat transmission of the UCI on another channel of the plurality of UCI channels after the expiration of the configured time duration.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the configured time duration is configured by the access point.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the access terminal selects the first UCI channel without input from the access point based on characteristics of the plurality of UCI channels.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the characteristics of the plurality of UCI channels include payload capabilities of the plurality of UCI channels, interference on the plurality of UCI channels, link budget conditions of the plurality of UCI channels, or any combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the UCI is contained in a UCI payload, and wherein the UCI payload contains UCI for multiple downlink subframes.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein uplink resources on the first UCI channel are allocated semi-statically to the access terminal.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein uplink resources on the first UCI channel are dynamically allocated in the downlink subframe.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the dynamic allocation of the uplink resources indicates:

a first grant-based uplink resource and a second grant-based uplink resource in the downlink subframe,

the first grant-based uplink resource and the second grant-based uplink resource semi-statically,

the first grant-based uplink resource in the downlink subframe and the second grant-based uplink resource semi-statically, or

the second grant-based uplink resource in the downlink subframe and the first grant-based uplink resource semi-statically.

12. An apparatus for communicating on a shared communication medium, comprising:

a transceiver of an access terminal configured to receive a downlink subframe from an access point on the shared communication medium;

at least one processor of the access terminal configured to cause the transceiver to transmit, in response to reception of the downlink subframe, uplink control information (UCI) for the downlink subframe on a first uplink subframe of a first UCI channel of a plurality of UCI channels; and

cause the transceiver to transmit, in response to reception of the downlink subframe, the UCI on a second uplink subframe of a second UCI channel of the plurality of UCI channels, wherein the UCI is transmitted on the second uplink subframe of the second UCI channel only before expiration of a configured time duration.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first UCI channel is a first available UCI channel of the plurality of UCI channels.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the access terminal is configured to transmit all UCI for all received downlink frames on the first UCI channel, regardless of availability of other UCI channels of the plurality of UCI channels.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the access terminal does not repeat transmission of the UCI on another channel of the plurality of UCI channels after the expiration of the configured time duration.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the configured time duration is configured by the access point.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the access terminal selects the first UCI channel without input from the access point based on characteristics of the plurality of UCI channels.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the characteristics of the plurality of UCI channels include payload capabilities of the plurality of UCI channels, interference on the plurality of UCI channels, link budget conditions of the plurality of UCI channels, or any combination thereof.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the UCI is contained in a UCI payload, and wherein the UCI payload contains UCI for multiple downlink subframes.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein uplink resources on the first UCI channel are allocated semi-statically to the access terminal.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein uplink resources on the first UCI channel are dynamically allocated in the downlink subframe.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the dynamic allocation of the uplink resources indicates:

a first grant-based uplink resource and a second grant-based uplink resource in the downlink subframe,

the first grant-based uplink resource and the second grant-based uplink resource semi-statically,

the first grant-based uplink resource in the downlink subframe and the second grant-based uplink resource semi-statically, or

the second grant-based uplink resource in the downlink subframe and the first grant-based uplink resource semi-statically.

23. An apparatus for communicating on a shared communication medium, comprising:

a communication means of an access terminal configured to receive a downlink subframe from an access point on the shared communication medium; and

a processing means of the access terminal configured to;

cause the communication means to transmit, in response to reception of the downlink subframe, uplink control information (UCI) for the downlink subframe on a first uplink subframe of a first UCI channel of a plurality of UCI channels; and

cause the communication means to transmit, in response to reception of the downlink subframe, the UCI on a second uplink subframe of a second UCI channel of the plurality of UCI channels, wherein the UCI is transmitted on the second uplink subframe of the second UCI channel only before expiration of a configured time duration.

24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by at least one processor cause the at least one processor to perform functions related to communicating on a shared communication medium, the computer-executable instructions comprising:

at least one instruction to cause an access terminal to receive a downlink subframe from an access point on the shared communication medium;

at least one instruction to cause the access terminal to transmit, in response to reception of the downlink subframe, uplink control information (UCI) for the downlink subframe on a first uplink subframe of a first UCI channel of a plurality of UCI channels; and

at least one instruction to cause the access terminal to transmit, in response to reception of the downlink subframe, the UCI on a second uplink subframe of a second UCI channel of the plurality of UCI channels, wherein the UCI is transmitted on the second uplink subframe of the second UCI channel only before expiration of a configured time duration.