Shared signaling channel for a communication system

• US 20060018347A1
• Filed: 03/10/2005
• Published: 01/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Agrawal, Avneesh
• Granted Patent: US 10,355,825 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/537
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0025 Transmission of mode-switching indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0041 Arrangements at the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0061 Error detection codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0072 Error control for data other than payload data, e.g. control data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1671 the supervisory signal being transmitted together with control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0093 Point-to-multipoint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/125 Arrangements for preventing errors in the return channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/20 Negotiating bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/22 Negotiating communication rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/322 Power control of broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/346 distributing total power among users or channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0473 the resource being transmission power
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1273 of downlink data flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal

Abstract

A shared signaling channel has multiple segments, and parameters for this channel may or may not be sent to users in advance. For example, the number of segments, the size and rate of each segment, and so on may be broadcast to the users via an overhead channel. The transmit power for each segment is not broadcast to the users and can range from zero to the total transmit power. A base station obtains signaling for all terminals within its coverage and maps the signaling for each terminal to at least one segment used for the terminal, which may be dynamically selected. The base station processes (e.g., jointly or individually encodes) the signaling mapped to each segment and generates output data for the segment. The output data for each segment is multiplexed onto the system resources allocated for the segment and transmitted at the selected power level.

Claims

1. An apparatus in a multiple-access communication system, comprising:

a mapper operative to receive signaling for a plurality of terminals and to map signaling for each terminal to at least one segment among a plurality of segments of a signaling channel;

a processor operative to process signaling mapped to each segment and to generate output data for the segment; and

a multiplexer operative to multiplex the output data for each segment onto system resources allocated for the segment.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multiplexer is operative to multiplex the output data for each segment onto a set of frequency subbands allocated for the segment.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a controller operative to allocate total transmit power to each of the plurality of segments; and

a transmitter unit operative to transmit the output data for each segment with transmit power allocated for the segment.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the controller is operative to allocate the total transmit power such that the plurality of segments are transmitted at different power levels.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is operative to, for each segment carrying jointly encoded signaling,

generate an error detection code value for the signaling mapped to the segment, and

encode the signaling and the error detection code value for the segment to generate a coded packet for the segment.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor is further operative to, for each segment carrying jointly encoded signaling,

map code bits in the coded packet for the segment to modulation symbols, and

scale the modulation symbols for the segment with a gain selected for the segment.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is operative to, for each segment carrying individually encoded signaling,

map signaling for each terminal mapped to the segment to a codeword, and

map the codeword for each terminal onto a transmission span assigned to the terminal.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a controller operative to select the at least one segment for each terminal based on channel conditions of the terminal and operating points of the plurality of segments.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the channel conditions comprise a signal-to-noise ratio.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of segments is associated with a fixed code rate and variable transmit power.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signaling for each terminal comprises a system resource assignment message, an acknowledgment (ACK), power control information, or a combination thereof.

12. A method of transmitting signaling in a multiple-access communication system, comprising:

obtaining signaling for a plurality of terminals;

mapping signaling for each terminal to at least one segment among a plurality of segments of a signaling channel;

processing signaling mapped to each segment to generate output data for the segment; and

multiplexing the output data for each segment onto system resources allocated for the segment.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the multiplexing the output data for each segment comprises

multiplexing the output data for each segment onto a set of frequency subbands allocated for the segment.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

allocating total transmit power to each of the plurality of segments; and

transmitting the output data for each segment with transmit power allocated for the segment.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

transmitting output data for the plurality of segments at different power levels selected for the segments.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein mapping comprises:

mapping the signaling for each terminal according to the channel conditions for each terminal.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the processing the signaling mapped to each segment comprises

if the segment carries jointly encoded signaling,

generating an error detection code value for the signaling mapped to the segment, and

encoding the signaling and the error detection code value for the segment to generate a coded packet for the segment.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the processing the signaling mapped to each segment comprises

if the segment carries individually encoded signaling,

mapping signaling for each terminal mapped to the segment to a codeword, and

mapping the codeword for each terminal onto a transmission span assigned to the terminal.

19. An apparatus in a multiple-access communication system, comprising:

means for obtaining signaling for a plurality of terminals;

means for mapping signaling for each terminal to at least one segment among a plurality of segments of a signaling channel;

means for processing signaling mapped to each segment to generate output data for the segment; and

means for multiplexing the output data for each segment onto system resources allocated for the segment.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

means for allocating total transmit power to each of the plurality of segments; and

means for transmitting the output data for each segment with transmit power allocated for the segment.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for processing the signaling mapped to each segment comprises

means for, if the segment carries jointly encoded signaling, generating an error detection code value for the signaling mapped to the segment and encoding the signaling and the error detection code value for the segment to generate a coded packet for the segment.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for processing the signaling mapped to each segment comprises

means for, if the segment carries individually encoded signaling, mapping signaling for each terminal mapped to the segment to a codeword and mapping the codeword for each terminal onto a transmission span assigned to the terminal.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the means for mapping comprises:

means for mapping the signaling for each terminal according to the channel conditions for each terminal.

24. An apparatus in a multiple-access communication system, comprising:

a demultiplexer operative to receive a plurality of segments of a signaling channel carrying signaling for a plurality of terminals, wherein signaling for a terminal is sent on at least one segment among the plurality of segments;

a controller operative to select one of the plurality of segments for recovery;

a processor operative to process the selected segment to recover signaling sent in the segment; and

a detector operative to determine whether signaling for the terminal is sent in the selected segment.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the controller is operative to select one segment at a time for processing until all signaling for the terminal is recovered, or all segments have been processed, or all unprocessed segments require higher signal-to-interference-and-noise ratios (SNRs) for recovery.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processor is operative to decode the selected segment based on a coding scheme used for the segment and to determine whether the selected segment is decoded correctly based on an error detection code value included in the segment.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processor is operative to obtain a received codeword from a transmission span for the terminal and to demap the received codeword to obtain a message for the terminal.

28. A method of receiving signaling at a terminal in a multiple-access communication system, comprising:

receiving a plurality of segments of a signaling channel carrying signaling for a plurality of terminals, wherein signaling for the terminal is sent on at least one segment among the plurality of segments;

selecting one of the plurality of segments for recovery;

processing the selected segment to recover signaling sent in the segment; and

determining whether signaling for the terminal is sent in the selected segment.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

repeating the selecting one of the plurality of segments, the processing the selected segment, and the determining whether signaling for the terminal is sent in the selected segment until all signaling for the terminal is recovered, or all of the plurality of segments have been processed, or all unprocessed segments require higher signal-to-interference-and-noise ratios (SNRs) for recovery.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the processing the selected segment comprises

decoding the selected segment based on a coding scheme used for the segment, and

determining whether the selected segment is decoded correctly based on an error detection code value included in the segment.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the processing the selected segment comprises

obtaining a received codeword from a transmission span for the terminal, and

demapping the received codeword to obtain a message for the terminal.

32. An apparatus in a multiple-access communication system, comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of segments of a signaling channel carrying signaling for a plurality of terminals, wherein signaling for a terminal is sent on at least one segment among the plurality of segments;

means for selecting one of the plurality of segments for recovery;

means for processing the selected segment to recover signaling sent in the segment; and

means for determining whether signaling for the terminal is sent in the selected segment.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising:

means for selecting one segment at a time for processing until all signaling for the terminal is recovered, or all segments have been processed, or all unprocessed segments require higher signal-to-interference-and-noise ratios (SNRs) for recovery.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the means for processing the selected segment comprises

means for decoding the selected segment based on a coding scheme used for the segment, and

means for determining whether the selected segment is decoded correctly based on an error detection code value included in the segment.

35. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the means for processing the selected segment comprises

means for obtaining a received codeword from a transmission span for the terminal, and

means for demapping the received codeword to obtain a message for the terminal.