Transmission of data within a communications network

• US 20050063347A1
• Filed: 08/21/2001
• Published: 03/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Hwang, Woonhee, Sarkkinen, Sinikka
• Granted Patent: US 8,280,424 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0033 arrangements specific to the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1867 Arrangements specially adapted for the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/12 between access points and access point controllers

Abstract

The invention relates to methods for providing a network element 5 of a communications network with data, in particular HSDPA related data. In order to enable the transmission of user data, it is proposed that a controller 4 of the network uses a dedicated frame structure for assembling frames with said user data. The frames can then be transmitted from the controller 4 via an interface to the network element 5. In order to enable the transmission of control parameters, it is further proposed that an interface application protocol is employed which allows the controller 4 to add control parameters to control messages transmitted from the controller 4 to a network element 5 via the interface.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting user data within a communications network from a controller (4) to a network element (5) over an interface, wherein said controller (4) uses at least one dedicated frame structure for assembling data frames with said user data, which data frames are transmitted via said interface to said network element (5), wherein said frame structure includes at least a header section for receiving information required in said network element (5) for processing said user data.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said frame structure further includes a payload section for receiving at least one SDU to which HSDPA related user data was distributed by said controller.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said user data is HSDPA (High speed downlink packet access) related user data, wherein said communications network is a UTRAN (Universal mobile telecommunication services terrestrial radio access network), wherein said controller is an RNC (radio network controller), wherein said network element is a Node B, wherein said interface is an Iub interface, and wherein said at least one frame structure is at least one dedicated HSDPA FP (frame protocol) frame structure.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein in a frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure, said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least one cyclic redundancy check information for data inserted into said header section of said data frame (“

header CRC”

).

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein in a frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure, said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of a frame type of said data frame (“

FT”

).

6. A method according to claim 3, wherein in a frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure, said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of the number of SDUs included in said payload section of said data frame (“

NumOfSDUs”

).

7. A method according to claim 3, wherein in a frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure, said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of the status of a buffer assigned to a user equipment in RNC buffers (“

User_Buffer_size”

), which assigned buffer is employed for buffering user data of said user equipment in said RNC (4) before transmitting it to a Node B (5).

8. A method according to claim 3, wherein in a frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure, said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of a relative priority of said data frame and of said SDUs included in said payload section of said data frame (“

CMCH-PI”

).

9. A method according to claim 3, wherein in a frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure, said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of the kind of user equipment identification, if any, a receiving Node B (5) should include in a header for said SDUs, which header might already have been added by said RNC (4) to said SDUs (“

UE_Id type”

).

10. A method according to claim 3, wherein said RNC (4) is allowed to multiplex HSDPA related user data intended for several user equipments to frames of a single Iub transmission connection, which multiplexed data is demultiplexed by said Node B (5), and wherein for a data frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure, said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of the number of RNC buffers from which user data has been inserted into said payload section of said data frame (“

NumOfBuff”

).

11. A method according to claim 3, wherein said RNC (4) is allowed to multiplex HSDPA related user data intended for several user equipments to frames of a single Iub transmission connection, which multiplexed data is demultiplexed by said Node B (5), and wherein for a data frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of the number of SDUs in said data frame which include user data originating from a single RNC buffer (9,11) (“

NumOfSDUs”

).

12. A method according to claim 3, wherein said RNC (4) is allowed to multiplex HSDPA related user data intended for several user equipments to frames of a single Iub transmission connection, which multiplexed data is demultiplexed by said Node B (5), and wherein for a data frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of the size of the SDUs in said data frame (“

Size_of_MAC SDU”

).

13. A method according to claim 3, wherein said RNC (4) is allowed to multiplex HSDPA related user data intended for several user equipments to frames of a single Iub transmission connection, which multiplexed data is demultiplexed by said Node B (5), and wherein for a data frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of the status of a buffer assigned to a respective user equipment in RNC buffers (9,11) (“

User_Buffer_size”

), which assigned buffer is employed for buffering user data for said user equipment in said RNC (4) before transmitting it to a Node B (5).

14. A method according to claim 3, wherein said RNC (4) is allowed to multiplex HSDPA related user data intended for several user equipments to frames of a single Iub transmission connection, which multiplexed data is demultiplexed by said Node B (5), and wherein for a data frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of a relative priority of the frame and/or of said SDUs included in said data frame (“

CMCH-PI”

)

15. A method according to claim 3, wherein said RNC (4) is allowed to multiplex HSDPA related user data intended for several user equipments to frames of a single Iub transmission connection, which multiplexed data is demultiplexed by said Node B (5), and wherein for a data frame assembled by said RNC (4) according to one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure said header section comprises for receiving HSDPA relevant information a dedicated field for at least an indication of the kind of user equipment identification, if any, a receiving Node B (5) should include in a header added to said SDUs, which headers might already have been added by said RNC (4) to said SDUs (“

UE_ID type”

).

16. A method according to claim 3, wherein an identification of user equipments, for which said HSDPA related user data distributed to said SDUs is intended, is required in said Node B (5), and wherein for one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure said header section comprises at least one dedicated field for including a user equipment identification information (“

UE-id”

).

17. A method according to claim 3, wherein an identification of user equipments, for which said HSDPA related user data distributed to said SDUs is intended, is required in said Node B (5), and wherein for one of said at least one dedicated HSDPA FP frame structure a user equipment identification information is added to said SDUs included in said payload section.

18. A method according to claim 16, wherein an RNTI (radio network temporary identity) assigned to a user equipment is used as respective user equipment identification information.

19. A method according to claim 2, wherein said SDUs are MAC−

d and/or MAC−

c/sh SDUs.

20. A communications network comprising at least one controller (4) and at least one network element (5), which controller (4) and which network element (5) are connected to each other via an interface, and in which communications network at least one frame structure is defined for transmission of information required at said network element (5) for processing user data from said controller (4) to said network element (5) over said interface according to claim 1, wherein said controller (4) comprises means for using said at least one frame structure for assembling frames with said information for transmission of said information via said interface to said network element (5), and wherein said network element (5) comprises means for extracting said information from received frames having said at least one frame structure.

21. A communications network according to claim 20, wherein said communications network is a UTRAN (Universal mobile telecommunication services terrestrial radio access network), wherein said controller is an RNC (radio network controller) (4), wherein said network element is a Node B (5), wherein said interface is an Iub interface.

22. A communications network according to claim 21, wherein said means of said RNC (4) is a MAC −

c/sh (2) and/or a MAC −

d (3) and wherein said means of said Node B (5) is a MAC −

hs (1).

23. A controller for a communications network comprising means for using a frame structure for assembling frames with information required by a network element (5) of said communications network for processing user data for transmission of said information via an interface to said network element (5) according to claim 20.

24. A network element (5) for a communications network comprising means for extracting information required in said network element (5) for processing user data from frames received via an interface from a controller (4) of said communications network, which frames have a frame structure, according to claim 20.

25. A network element (5) according to claim 24, wherein said network element is a Node B of a UTRAN (Universal mobile telecommunication services terrestrial radio access network).

45. A controller (4) according to claim 23, wherein said controller is an RNC (radio network controller) of a UTRAN.

26. A method for providing a network element (5) of a communications network with control parameters available at a controller (4) of said communications network, which controller (4) is connected to said network element (5) via an interface, wherein said method comprises employing an interface application protocol which enables an insertion of at least one control parameter into at least one kind of control message transmitted from said controller (4) to said network element (5) over said interface.

27. A method according to claim 26, wherein said communications network is a UTRAN (Universal mobile telecommunication services terrestrial radio access network), wherein said network element is a Node B, wherein said controller is an RNC (radio network controller) and wherein said interface is an Iub interface.

28. A method according to claim 27, wherein the content of said at least one HSDPA related control parameter is a fixed value, a limiting value or a sequence of allowed values to be used by said Node B (5).

29. A method according to claim 27, wherein said at least one HSDPA related control parameter is comprised in at least one information element (IE) and is inserted into a control message by adding said information element to a control message of said at least one kind of control message transmitted from said RNC (4) of said UTRAN to said Node B (5) over said Iub-interface.

30. A method according to claim 27, wherein at least one of said at least one HSDPA related control parameter is a cell specific control parameter required by said Node B (5) for a setup of a cell and/or for a reconfiguration of a cell.

31. A method according to claim 30, wherein said at least one cell specific control parameter comprises for insertion into at least one kind of control message at least one of the following parameters:

sets of a modulation and coding schemes (MCS) from which said Node B (5) can choose every TTI (transmission time interval) for HSDPA transmissions;

a power level to be used by said Node B (5) for HS-DSCHs (high speed downlink shared channel) in HSDPA;

the number of code channels which will be assigned to HS-DSCHs used by said Node B (5);

an indication of a TTI length to be used by said Node B (5); and

one or more parameters to be used by said Node B (5) to configure a HARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request) implemented in said Node B (5).

32. A method according to claim 31, wherein said one or more parameters to be used by said Node B (5) to configure HARQ includes at least one of the number of channels to be used for HARQ, the maximum number of attempts for HARQ, and restrictions of redundancy versions from which said Node B (5) can choose.

33. A method according to claim 30, wherein said at least one kind of control message is a CELL SETUP REQUEST message and/or a CELL RECONFIGURATION REQUEST message.

34. A method according to claim 27, wherein at least one of said at least one HSDPA related control parameter is a radio link specific control parameter required for a setup of a radio link and/or for a reconfiguration of a radio link.

35. A method according to claim 34, wherein said at least one radio link specific control parameter comprises for insertion into at least one kind of control message at least the identity of an HS DSCH (high speed downlink shared channel) currently to be used by said Node B (5) for HSDPA.

36. A method according to claim 34, wherein said at least one radio link specific control parameter comprises for insertion into at least one kind of control message at least one of the following parameters:

the identity of an HS DSCH (high speed downlink shared channel) currently to be used by said Node B (5) for HSDPA;

a binding identity identifying the user data stream which is currently to be transmitted by said Node B (5); and

a transport layer address defining the current transport address of said Node B (5).

37. A method according to claim 34, wherein said at least one radio link specific control parameter comprises for insertion into at least one kind of control message at least one of the following parameters:

the identity of an HS DSCH (high speed downlink shared channel) currently to be used by said Node B (5) for HSDPA.

the identity of a user equipment to which user data is to be transmitted by said Node B (5) with HSDPA;

a transport format set currently to be used by said Node B (5);

an allocation and/or retention priority indicating a priority level in the allocation and/or retention of internal resources of said Node B (5);

a frame handling priority indicating a priority level to be used by said Node B (5) during the lifetime of a HS-DSCH for temporary restrictions of allocated resources due overload reason;

a time of arrival of a window startpoint (ToAWS) after which downlink data frames are expected to be received at said Node B (5);

a time of arrival of a window endpoint (ToAWE) before which downlink data frames are expected to be received at said Node B (5);

the number of code channels which are currently assigned to a HS DSCH used by said Node B (5);

a buffer status (BufferStatus) indicating a current status of buffers of said RNC (4); and

one or more parameters currently to be used by said Node B (5) to configure HARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request) implemented in said Node B (5).

38. A method according to claim 37, wherein said one or more parameters to be used by said Node B (5) to configure HARQ includes at least one of the number of channels to be used for HARQ, a maximum allowed number of attempts for HARQ, and restrictions of redundancy versions from which said Node B (5) can choose.

39. A method according to claim 34, wherein said at least one kind of control message is at least one of a RADIO LINK SETUP REQUEST message, a RADIO LINK SETUP RESPONSE message, a RADIO LINK RECONFIGURATION PREPARE message and a RADIO LINK RECONFIGURATION READY message.

40. A communications network comprising at least one controller (4) and at least one network element (5), which controller (4) and which network element (5) are connected to each other via an interface, wherein said communications network further comprises an implementation of an interface application protocol enabling said controller (4) to provide said network element (5) with at least one control parameter by inserting said at least one control parameter into at least one kind of control message transmitted from said controller (4) to said network element (5) over said interface according to claim 34.

41. A communications network according to claim 40, is a UTRAN (Universal mobile telecommunication services terrestrial radio access network), wherein said controller is an RNC (radio network controller) (4), wherein said network element is a Node B (5) and wherein said interface is an Iub interface.

42. A controller (4) for a communications network, which controller (4) comprises means for providing a network element (5) of said communications network via an interface in accordance with an interface application protocol with at least one control parameter by inserting said at least one control parameter into a control message transmitted from said controller (4) to said network element (5) over said interface according to claim 40.

43. A network element (5) for a communications network comprising means for receiving control messages from a controller (4) of said communications network via an interface, and for extracting at least one control parameter from at least one kind of received messages into which at least one control parameter was inserted by said controller (4) according to claim 40.

44. A network element (5) according to claim 43, wherein said network element is a Node B of a UTRAN (Universal mobile telecommunication services terrestrial radio access network).

46. A method according to claim 27, wherein said control parameters are HSDPA (High speed downlink packet access) related control parameters.

47. A controller (4) according to claim 42, wherein said controller is an RNC (radio network controller) of a UTRAN.