Methods and apparatus related to custom control channel reporting formats

• US 20070149131A1
• Filed: 10/13/2006
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Das, Arnab, Li, Junyi, Anigstein, Pablo
• Granted Patent: US 9,125,093 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/67.110
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports

Abstract

Methods and apparatus related to control information reporting over wireless communication channels are described. Various embodiments include communicating control information format definition information over a wireless link. For example, in some embodiments, a base station downloads control information reporting format definition information, e.g., corresponding to a new release or a custom reporting format, into a wireless terminal. As another example, a wireless terminal generates a custom control information reporting format, that it intends to use, and communicates definition information corresponding to the generated custom control reporting format to a base station.

Claims

1. A method of operating a first communications device which interacts with a second communications device, the method comprising:

performing at least one of receiving and transmitting control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link; and

generating a control information report in accordance with one of the received and transmitted reporting format definition information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said reporting format provides a definition mapping information to be included in said report to possible report values.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said reporting format further defines a reporting schedule according to which reports are to be transmitted.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said reporting format further defines a set of reports which are to be transmitted in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said reporting format further specifies a coding and modulation scheme to be applied to said set of reports.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to performing said receiving and transmitting, using a default reporting format when communicating with said second communications device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said default format is used for an initial communication with said second communication device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

checking at least one of;

device capability information, channel condition, application information, quality of service information, and system loading; and

switching to said one of the received and transmitted reporting format depending on the outcome of said check.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

checking for the reception of a control information format switching command signal from said second communications device; and

switching to said one of the received and transmitted reporting format depending on the outcome of said check.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting format definition information is received from or transmitted to a centralized server.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein said first communications device is a wireless terminal and wherein groups of reports are mapped into dedicated control channel segments in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing channel structure.

12. A communications device, comprising:

at least one of;

i) a receiver module for receiving control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link and ii) a transmitter module for transmitting control information reporting format definition information via a wireless communications link; and

a control information report generation module for generating a control information report in accordance with at least one of i) received reporting format definition information and ii) transmitted reporting format definition information.

13. The communications device of claim 12, further comprising:

memory including stored reporting format definition information, the stored reporting format definition information including report definition information, said report definition information including mapping information defining a mapping between information to be included in a report and possible report values.

14. The communications device of claim 13, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further includes information defining a reporting schedule indicating a schedule indicating a sequence in which reports are to be transmitted.

15. The communications device of claim 14, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further defines a set of reports which are to be transmitted in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

16. The communications device of claim 15, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further includes information specifying a coding and module scheme to be applied to said defined set of reports.

17. The communications device of claim 12, further comprising:

a memory for storing a default reporting format to be used when communication with another communications device prior to receiving control information reporting format definition information from said another device or transmitting control information reporting format definition information to said another device.

18. The communications device of claim 17, wherein said stored default reporting format is used for an initial communication with said another communications device.

19. The communications device of claim 18, further comprising:

a control module for checking at least one of device capability information, channel condition information, application information, quality of service information, and system loading information and for controlling switching to a reporting format, defined by said at least one of i) received reporting format definition information and ii) transmitted reporting format definition information, as a function of the result of said checking.

20. The communications device of claim 12, wherein said communications device is a wireless terminal.

21. A communications device, comprising:

at least one of;

i) means for receiving control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link and ii) means for transmitting control information reporting format definition information via a wireless communications link; and

means for generating a control information report in accordance with at least one of i) received reporting format definition information and ii) transmitted reporting format definition information.

22. The communications device of claim 21, further comprising:

storage means including stored reporting format definition information, the stored reporting format definition information including report definition information, said report definition information including mapping information defining a mapping between information to be included in a report and possible report values.

23. The communications device of claim 22, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further includes information defining a reporting schedule indicating a schedule indicating a sequence in which reports are to be transmitted.

24. The communications device of claim 23, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further defines a set of reports which are to be transmitted in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

25. The communications device of claim 24, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further includes information specifying a coding and module scheme to be applied to said defined set of reports.

26. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instruction for controlling a first communications device, the method comprising:

performing at least one of receiving and transmitting control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link; and

generating a control information report in accordance with one of the received and transmitted reporting format definition information.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein said reporting format provides a definition mapping information to be included in said report to possible report values.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein said reporting format further defines a reporting schedule according to which reports are to be transmitted.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein said reporting format further defines a set of reports which are to be transmitted in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein said reporting format further specifies a coding and modulation scheme to be applied to said set of reports.

31. A first communications device operable in a wireless communications system, the first communications device comprising:

a processor configure to;

control at least one of receiving and transmitting control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link; and

generate a control information report in accordance with one of the received and transmitted reporting format definition information.

32. The first communications device of claim 31, wherein said reporting format provides a definition mapping information to be included in said report to possible report values.

33. The first communications device of claim 32, wherein said reporting format further defines a reporting schedule according to which reports are to be transmitted.

34. The first communication device of claim 33, wherein said reporting format further defines a set of reports which are to be transmitted in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

35. The first communications device of claim 34, wherein said reporting format further specifies a coding and modulation scheme to be applied to said set of reports.

36. A method of operating a first communications device which interacts with a second communications device, the method comprising:

performing at least one of receiving and transmitting control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link; and

recovering control information corresponding to a received control information report in accordance with one of the received and transmitted reporting format definition information.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein said reporting format provides a definition mapping information to be included in said report to possible report values.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein said reporting format further defines a reporting schedule according to which reports are to be transmitted.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein said reporting format further defines a set of reports which are to be transmitted in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said reporting format further specifies a coding and modulation scheme to be applied to said set of reports.

41. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

prior to performing said receiving and transmitting, using a default reporting format when communicating with said second communications device.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein said default format is used for an initial communication with said second communication device.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

checking at least one of;

device capability information, channel condition, application information, quality of service information, and system loading; and

switching to said one of the received and transmitted reporting format depending on the outcome of said check.

44. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

checking for the reception of a control information format switching command signal from said second communications device; and

switching to said one of the received and transmitted reporting format depending on the outcome of said check.

45. The method of claim 36, wherein the reporting format definition information is received from or transmitted to a centralized server.

46. The method of claim 40, wherein said first communications device is a base station and wherein groups of reports are mapped into dedicated control channel segments in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing channel structure.

47. The method of claim 36, wherein said first communication device is a base station, wherein said second communications device is a first wireless terminal, the method further comprising:

performing at least one of receiving and transmitting control information reporting format definition information from a second wireless communications link corresponding to the second wireless terminal; and

recovering control information communicated corresponding to a received control information report in accordance with one of the received and transmitted reporting format definition information from a second wireless communications link, and

wherein said reporting format definition information corresponding to the first wireless terminal is different from the reporting format definition information corresponding to the second wireless terminal.

48. A communications device, comprising:

at least one of;

i) a receiver module for receiving control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link and ii) a transmitter module for transmitting control information reporting format definition information via a wireless communications link; and

a control information report recovery module for recovering control information reports'"'"' information in accordance with at least one of i) received reporting format definition information and ii) transmitted reporting format definition information.

49. The communications device of claim 48, further comprising:

memory including stored reporting format definition information, the stored reporting format definition information including report definition information, said reporting definition information including mapping information defining a mapping between information to be included in a control information report and possible report values.

50. The communications device of claim 49, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further includes information defining a reporting schedule indicating a schedule indicating a sequence in which reports are to be transmitted.

51. The communications device of claim 50, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further defines a set of reports which are to be received in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

52. The communications device of claim 51, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further includes information specifying a coding and module scheme to be applied to said defined set of reports.

53. The communications device of claim 48, further comprising:

a memory for storing a default reporting format to be used when communicating with another communications device prior to receiving control information reporting format definition information from said another device or transmitting control information reporting format definition information to said another device.

54. The communications device of claim 53, wherein said stored default reporting format is used for an initial communication with said another communications device.

55. The communications device of claim 54, further comprising:

a control module for checking at least one of device capability information, channel condition information, application information, quality of service information, and system loading information and for controlling switching to a reporting format, defined by said at least one of i) received reporting format definition information and ii) transmitted reporting format definition information, as a function of the result of said checking.

56. The communications device of claim 48, wherein said communications device is a base station.

57. A communications device, comprising:

at least one of;

i) means for receiving control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link and ii) a transmitter module for transmitting control information reporting format definition information via a wireless communications link; and

means for recovering control information reports'"'"' information in accordance with at least one of i) received reporting format definition information and ii) transmitted reporting format definition information.

58. The communications device of claim 57, further comprising:

storage means including stored reporting format definition information, the stored reporting format definition information including report definition information, said report definition information including mapping information defining a mapping between information to be included in a control information report and possible report values.

59. The communications device of claim 58, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further includes information defining a reporting schedule indicating a schedule indicating a sequence in which reports are to be transmitted.

60. The communications device of claim 59, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further defines a set of reports which are to be received in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

61. The communications device of claim 60, wherein said stored reporting format definition information further includes information specifying a coding and module scheme to be applied to said defined set of reports.

62. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a first communications device to implement a method, the method comprising:

performing at least one of receiving and transmitting control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link; and

recovering control information corresponding to a received control information report in accordance with one of the received and transmitted reporting format definition information.

63. The computer readable medium of claim 62, wherein said reporting format provides a definition mapping information to be included in said report to possible report values.

64. The computer readable medium of claim 63, wherein said reporting format further defines a reporting schedule according to which reports are to be transmitted.

65. The computer readable medium of claim 64, wherein said reporting format further defines a set of reports which are to be transmitted in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

66. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein said reporting format further specifies a coding and modulation scheme to be applied to said set of reports.

67. A first communications device operable in a wireless communications system, the first communications device comprising:

a processor configured to;

control at least one of receiving and transmitting control information reporting format definition information from a wireless communications link; and

control recovery of control information corresponding to a received control information report in accordance with one of the received and transmitted reporting format definition information.

68. The first communications device of claim 67, wherein said reporting format provides a definition mapping information to be included in said report to possible report values.

69. The first communications device of claim 68, wherein said reporting format further defines a reporting schedule according to which reports are to be transmitted.

70. The first communications device of claim 69, wherein said reporting format further defines a set of reports which are to be transmitted in accordance with the defined reporting schedule.

71. The first communications device of claim 70, wherein said reporting format further specifies a coding and modulation scheme to be applied to said set of reports.