Narrowband control channel decoding

• US 10,560,235 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2015
• Issued: 02/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Wanshi, Xu, Hao, Gaal, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Lam, Yee F
• Application Number:
  US14/927,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20160127097A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,566 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0005 Time-frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/005 of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0051 of dedicated pilots, i.e. pilots destined for a single user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) may establish a connection with another wireless node, such as a base station or another UE. The connection may include a narrowband control region of a wideband system. The UE may identify a set of resources, which may include a set of subframes that have the same precoding or a set of resource blocks that have the same precoding, during which to monitor a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for decoding a control channel within the narrowband. The UE may then decode the control channel using the DM-RS or a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), or both DM-RS and CRS. The UE may exclude resources of the narrowband region that include a control region for broadband communications.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving a configuration for resources of a control channel associated with a node, wherein the resources are included in a narrowband region of a wideband system;

excluding, based at least in part on a message received from a base station, resources of the narrowband region that comprise a control region for broadband communications from the control channel;

identifying a plurality of subframes during which to monitor a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for decoding the resources of the control channel, wherein the plurality of subframes have a same precoding applied to the DM-RS across the plurality of subframes; and

decoding the control channel based at least in part on the DM-RS.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying two or more resource blocks (RBs) that have the same precoding within the narrowband region.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the message indicating the resources of the narrowband region that comprise the control region for broadband communications; and

determining the resources of the narrowband region that comprise the control region for the broadband communications based at least in part on the message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the control channel comprises a control channel element (CCE) that comprises a set of resource element groups (REGs).

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each REG of the set of REGs is distributed in time and frequency during the plurality of subframes within the narrowband region.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein each REG of the set of REGs excludes resource elements that comprise DM-RS.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each REG of the set of REGs excludes resource elements that comprise a cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a single precoder is applied for each physical resource block pair of the control channel.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein two or more precoders are applied to resources with each physical resource block pair of the control channel.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the control channel is decoded based at least in part on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

11. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor;

memory coupled with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to;

receive a configuration for resources of a control channel associated with a node, wherein the resources are included in a narrowband region of a wideband system;

exclude, based at least in part on a message received from a base station, resources of the narrowband region that comprise a control region for broadband communications from the control channel;

identify a plurality of subframes during which to monitor a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for decoding the resources of the control channel, wherein the plurality of subframes have a same precoding applied to the DM-RS across the plurality of subframes; and

decode the control channel based at least in part on the DM-RS.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions are operable to cause the processor to:

identify two or more resource blocks (RBs) that have the same precoding within the narrowband region.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions are operable to cause the processor to:

receive the message indicating the resources of the narrowband region that comprise the control region for broadband communications; and

determine the resources of the narrowband region that comprise the control region for the broadband communications based at least in part on the message.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the control channel comprises a control channel element (CCE) that comprises a set of resource element groups (REGs).

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein each REG of the set of REGs is distributed in time and frequency during the plurality of subframes within the narrowband region.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a single precoder is applied for each physical resource block pair of the control channel.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein two or more precoders are applied to resources with each physical resource block pair of the control channel.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the control channel is decoded based at least in part on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

19. An apparatus for wireless communication comprising:

means for receiving a configuration for resources of a control channel associated with a node, wherein the resources are included in a narrowband region of a wideband system;

means for excluding, based at least in part on a message received from a base station, resources of the narrowband region that comprise a control region for broadband communications from the control channel;

means for identifying a plurality of subframes during which to monitor a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for decoding the resources of the control channel, wherein the plurality of subframes have a same precoding applied to the DM-RS across the plurality of subframes; and

means for decoding the control channel based at least in part on the DM-RS.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

means for identifying two or more resource blocks (RBs) that have the same precoding within the narrowband region.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

means for receiving the message indicating the resources of the narrowband region that comprise the control region for broadband communications; and

means for determining the resources of the narrowband region that comprise the control region for the broadband communications based at least in part on the message.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the control channel comprises a control channel element (CCE) that comprises a set of resource element groups (REGs).

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein each REG of the set of REGs excludes resource elements that comprise DM-RS.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein a single precoder is applied for each physical resource block pair of the control channel.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein two or more precoders are applied to resources with each physical resource block pair of the control channel.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the control channel is decoded based at least in part on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable to:

receive a configuration for resources of a control channel associated with a node, wherein the resources are included in a narrowband region of a wideband system;

exclude, based at least in part on a message received from a base station, resources of the narrowband region that comprise a control region for broadband communications from the control channel;

identify a plurality of subframes during which to monitor a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for decoding the resources of the control channel, wherein the plurality of subframes have a same precoding applied to the DM-RS across the plurality of subframes; and

decode the control channel based at least in part on the DM-RS.