Physical uplink control chanel (PUCCH) configuration for machine type communications (MTC)

• US 10,728,914 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2016
• Issued: 07/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Fakoorian, Seyed Ali Akbar, Rico Alvarino, Alberto, Chen, Wanshi, Wang, Michael Mao, Xu, Hao
• Primary Examiner(s): Javaid, Jamal
• Assistant Examiner(s): Defauw, Thad N
• Application Number:
  US15/149,565
• Publication Number:
  US 20160338088A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,541 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/713 using frequency hopping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/32 Hierarchical cell structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1263 Mapping of traffic onto schedule, e.g. scheduled allocation or multiplexing of flows
• 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 88/12 Access point controller devices

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications, and more specifically to determining uplink narrowband regions based on downlink resources. An example method generally includes identifying one or more uplink narrowband regions within a wider system bandwidth, based on downlink resources, and communicating using at least one of the identified narrowbands.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:

identifying, based on a mapping between downlink resources and uplink narrowband regions, one or more uplink narrowband regions within a wider system bandwidth, wherein the identifying comprises identifying uplink narrowband regions in different subframes according to a frequency hopping pattern, wherein the frequency hopping pattern results in the uplink narrowband regions being fixed for multiple consecutive subframes, and wherein the frequency hopping pattern comprises a pattern in which communications hop between a pair of uplink narrowband regions; and

communicating using at least one of the identified uplink narrowband regions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink narrowband regions comprise no more than six resource blocks (RBs).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency hopping pattern results in mirroring narrowband regions at edges of the system bandwidth.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying one or more uplink narrowband regions further comprises identifying the one or more uplink narrowband regions based on an index of a first control channel element (CCE) of a downlink message.

5. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to identify, based on a mapping between downlink resources and uplink narrowband regions, one or more uplink narrowband regions within a wider system bandwidth, wherein the identifying comprises identifying uplink narrowband regions in different subframes according to a frequency hopping pattern, wherein the frequency hopping pattern results in the uplink narrowband regions being fixed for multiple consecutive subframes, and wherein the frequency hopping pattern comprises a pattern in which communications hop between a pair of uplink narrowband regions;

a transceiver configured to communicate using at least one of the identified uplink narrowband regions; and

a memory coupled with the at least one processor.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the uplink narrowband regions comprise no more than six resource blocks (RBs).

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the frequency hopping pattern results in mirroring narrowband regions at edges of the system bandwidth.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the identifying one or more uplink narrowband regions further comprises identifying the one or more uplink narrowband regions based on an index of a first control channel element (CCE) of a downlink message.

9. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for identifying, based on a mapping between downlink resources and uplink narrowband regions, one or more uplink regions within a wider system bandwidth, wherein the identifying comprises identifying uplink narrowband regions in different subframes according to a frequency hopping pattern, wherein the frequency hopping pattern results in the uplink narrowband regions being fixed for multiple consecutive subframes, and wherein the frequency hopping pattern comprises a pattern in which communications hop between a pair of uplink narrowband regions; and

means for communicating using at least one of the identified uplink narrowband regions.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the uplink narrowband regions comprise no more than six resource blocks (RBs).

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the frequency hopping pattern results in mirroring narrowband regions at edges of the system bandwidth.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the means for identifying further comprises means for identifying the one or more uplink narrowband regions based on an index of a first control channel element (CCE) of a downlink message.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, performs an operation comprising:

identifying, based on a mapping between downlink resources and uplink narrowband regions, one or more uplink narrowband regions within a wider system bandwidth, wherein the identifying comprises identifying uplink narrowband regions in different subframes according to a frequency hopping pattern, wherein the frequency hopping pattern results in the uplink narrowband regions being fixed for multiple consecutive subframes, and wherein the frequency hopping pattern comprises a pattern in which communications hop between a pair of uplink narrowband regions; and

communicating using at least one of the identified uplink narrowband regions.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the uplink narrowband regions comprise no more than six resource blocks (RBs).

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the frequency hopping pattern results in mirroring narrowband regions at edges of the system bandwidth.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying one or more uplink narrowband regions further comprises identifying the one or more uplink narrowband regions based on an index of a first control channel element (CCE) of a downlink message.