WIRELESS RESOURCE ALLOCATION METHODS AND APPARATUS

• US 20080056183A1
• Filed: 06/21/2007
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gorokhov, Alex, Palanki, Ravi
• Granted Patent: US 8,582,592 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/24 with feedback of measurements to the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/345 Interference values signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR] H04B17/336
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/382 for resource allocation, admission control or handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0026 Transmission of channel quality indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2613 Structure of the reference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0091 Signaling for the administration of the divided path
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/08 Closed loop power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/24 using SIR [Signal to Interference Ratio] or other wireless path parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/243 taking into account interferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/247 where the output power of a terminal is based on a path parameter sent by another terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for assigning and using resources corresponding to discontinuous portions of bandwidth are described. A single assignment may be used to assign multiple disjoint portions of bandwidth to be used by a wireless terminal, e.g., at the same time, as an uplink or downlink band. Different portions of bandwidth allocated to a terminal may have different numbers and/or locations of guard subcarriers with relevant guard subcarrier information being communicated to the wireless terminal in a broadcast signal or being determined from stored information. The disjoint portions of bandwidth allocated for use to a terminal may be separated by a carrier band, e.g., 1.25 MHz or more, which is not available for use, e.g., because it is owned by another service provider. Some embodiments are implemented using OFDM signals wherein a wireless terminal may generate or receive an OFDM symbol including subcarriers, e.g., tones corresponding to the different discontinuous portions but not the bandwidth separating the discontinuous portions.

Claims

1. A method for assigning resources in a wireless communication system comprising:

selecting a first wireless terminal to be assigned a communications resource; and

assigning the first wireless terminal a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth for a period of time separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein different numbers of guard subcarriers are associated with different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting guard subcarrier information indicating at least one of the number and location of guard subcarriers in at least one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein at least some of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth have guard subcarriers located at different locations.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said guard subcarrier information is broadcast in a preamble.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a single assignment message communicating the assignment of the resource including the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth to the first wireless terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

assigning a second terminal a resource corresponding to one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth during a second period of time, said one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth being shared by said first and second wireless terminals on one of a time division multiplexing basis and frequency division multiplexing basis.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said discontinuous portions of bandwidth are separated by at least 1.25 MHz.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein said transmitted assignment message includes a node identifier corresponding to a set of sub-carriers, the set of sub-carriers including at least one subcarrier from each of the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein assigning comprises assigning the first terminal to resources based upon a channel tree which indicates sub-carriers corresponding to a communications channel constructed from a plurality of discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein said resource is an uplink resource.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein said resource is a downlink resource.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting an OFDM signal including information directed to said wireless terminal including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

14. A communications apparatus for assigning resources in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a selection module for selecting a first wireless terminal to be assigned a communications resource; and

a resource assignment module for assigning the first wireless terminal selected by said selection module a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth for a period of time separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

an assignment message generation module for generating a single assignment message communicating the assignment of the resource including the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth to the first wireless terminal; and

a wireless transmitter module for transmitting generated assignment messages.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

memory including stored airlink resource information indicating communications bands available for assignment, said information including information about at least one of the number and location of guard bands within the available communications bands.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

memory including stored airlink resource information identifying different discontinuous portions of bandwidth available for allocation corresponding to a resource.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said discontinuous portions of bandwidth are separated by at least 1.25 MHz.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said assignment message generation module generates an assignment message including a node identifier corresponding to a set of sub-carriers, the set of sub-carriers including at least one subcarrier from each of the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

20. The apparatus of claim 17,

wherein said memory further includes channel tree resource information indicating sub-carriers corresponding to a communications channel constructed from a plurality of discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said resource is an uplink resource.

22. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said resource is a downlink resource.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

a symbol generation module for generating an OFDM symbol including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

a wireless OFDM transmitter module for transmitting an OFDM signal including information directed to said wireless terminal including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

24. A communications apparatus for assigning resources in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

selection means for selecting a first wireless terminal to be assigned a communications resource; and

means for assigning the first wireless terminal selected by said selection means a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth for a period of time separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:

means for generating a single assignment message communicating the assignment of the resource including the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth to the first wireless terminal; and

means for transmitting generated assignment messages.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising:

memory means including stored airlink resource information indicating communications bands available for assignment, said information including information about at least one of the number and location of guard bands within the available communications bands.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said means for generating generates an assignment message including a node identifier corresponding to a set of sub-carriers, the set of sub-carriers including at least one subcarrier from each of the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:

means for generating an OFDM symbol including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

means for transmitting an OFDM signal including information directed to said wireless terminal including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

29. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

select a first wireless terminal to be assigned a communications resource; and

assign the first wireless terminal a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth for a period of time separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein different numbers of guard subcarriers are associated with different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said processor is further configured to:

cause to be transmitted guard subcarrier information indicating at least one of the number and location of guard subcarriers in at least one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

32. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said processor is further configured to:

cause to be transmitted a single assignment message communicating the assignment of the resource including the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth to the first wireless terminal.

33. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said processor is further configured to:

cause to be transmitted an OFDM signal including information directed to said wireless terminal including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

34. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a communications device to implement a method of assigning resources in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

selecting a first wireless terminal to be assigned a communications resource; and

assigning the first wireless terminal a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth for a period of time separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 34, wherein different numbers of guard subcarriers are associated with different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 34, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

transmitting guard subcarrier information indicating at least one of the number and location of guard subcarriers in at least one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 34, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

transmitting a single assignment message communicating the assignment of the resource including the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth to the first wireless terminal.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 34, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

transmitting an OFDM signal including information directed to said wireless terminal including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource.

39. A method of operating a wireless terminal comprising:

receiving a resource assignment message indicating assignment, for a period of time, to said wireless terminal of a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

using said assigned resource to communicate with an access point.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein different numbers of guard subcarriers are associated with different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

41. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

receiving guard subcarrier information indicating at least one of the number and location of guard subcarriers in at least one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

storing at least some of said received guard subcarrier information, said stored guard subcarrier information indicating different guard subcarrier locations within different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein receiving guard subcarrier information includes receiving a broadcast preamble including said guard subcarrier information.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein said discontinuous portions of bandwidth are separated by at least 1.25 MHz.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein said received assignment message includes a node identifier, the method further comprising:

determining from the node identifier and stored information a set of sub-carriers corresponding to said node identifier to be used by said wireless terminal, the set of sub-carriers including at least one guard subcarrier from each of the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein said resource is an uplink resource.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

generating an OFDM symbol including information directed to said access point, said OFDM symbol including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

wherein using said assigned resource includes transmitting said generated OFDM symbol.

48. The method of claim 44, wherein said resource is a downlink resource.

49. A wireless terminal comprising:

a receiver module for receiving a resource assignment message indicating assignment, for a period of time, to said wireless terminal of a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

at least one of;

i) a symbol generation module for generating symbols corresponding to the allocated resource and

ii) a symbol recovery module for recovering symbols corresponding to the allocated resource.

50. The wireless terminal of claim 49, wherein different numbers of guard subcarriers are associated with different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

51. The wireless terminal of claim 49, further comprising:

a guard subcarrier information recovery module for recovering received information indicating at least one of the number and location of guard subcarriers in at least one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

52. The wireless terminal of claim 51, further comprising:

a memory module for storing at least some of said received guard subcarrier information, said stored guard subcarrier information indicating different guard subcarrier locations within different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

53. The wireless terminal of claim 49, wherein said discontinuous portions of bandwidth are separated by at least 1.25 MHz.

54. The wireless terminal of claim 53, wherein said received assignment message includes a node identifier, the wireless terminal further comprising:

a memory module including stored information indicating a set of sub-carriers corresponding to said node identifier, the set of sub-carriers including at least one guard subcarrier from each of the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

55. The wireless terminal of claim 53, wherein said resource is an uplink resource.

56. The wireless terminal of claim 55, further comprising:

wherein said symbol generation module is an OFDM symbol generation module which generates an OFDM symbol including information directed to said access point, said OFDM symbol including tones corresponding to said discontinuous portions but not said portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

a transmitter module for transmitting OFDM symbols generated by said OFDM symbol generation module.

57. The wireless terminal of claim 53, wherein said resource is a downlink resource.

58. A wireless terminal comprising:

receiver means for receiving a resource assignment message indicating assignment, for a period of time, to said wireless terminal of a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

at least one of;

i) means for generating symbols corresponding to the allocated resource and

ii) means for recovering symbols corresponding to the allocated resource.

59. The wireless terminal of claim 58, wherein different numbers of guard subcarriers are associated with different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

60. The wireless terminal of claim 58, further comprising:

guard subcarrier information recovery means for recovering received information indicating at least one of the number and location of guard subcarriers in at least one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

61. The wireless terminal of claim 60, further comprising:

memory means for storing at least some of said received guard subcarrier information, said stored guard subcarrier information indicating different guard subcarrier locations within different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

62. The wireless terminal of claim 58, wherein said discontinuous portions of bandwidth are separated by at least 1.25 MHz.

63. An apparatus comprising:

a processor for use in a wireless terminal, the processor configured to;

receive a resource assignment message indicating assignment, for a period of time, to said wireless terminal of a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

use said assigned resource to communicate with an access point.

64. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein different numbers of guard subcarriers are associated with different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

65. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein said processor is further configured to:

receive guard subcarrier information indicating at least one of the number and location of guard subcarriers in at least one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

66. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein said discontinuous portions of bandwidth are separated by at least 1.25 MHz.

67. The apparatus of claim 66, wherein said received assignment message includes a node identifier, and wherein said processor is further configured to:

determine from the node identifier and stored information a set of sub-carriers corresponding to said node identifier to be used by said wireless terminal, the set of sub-carriers including at least one guard subcarrier from each of the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

68. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a wireless terminal to implement a method of communicating with another communications device, the method comprising:

receiving a resource assignment message indicating assignment, for a period of time, to said wireless terminal of a resource including at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth separated by a portion of bandwidth not included in said resource; and

using said assigned resource to communicate with an access point.

69. The computer readable medium of claim 68, wherein different numbers of guard subcarriers are associated with different discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

70. The computer readable medium of claim 68, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

receiving guard subcarrier information indicating at least one of the number and location of guard subcarriers in at least one of said discontinuous portions of bandwidth.

71. The computer readable medium of claim 68, wherein said discontinuous portions of bandwidth are separated by at least 1.25 MHz.

72. The computer readable medium of claim 71, wherein said received assignment message includes a node identifier, the computer readable medium further embodying machine executable instructions for:

determining from the node identifier and stored information a set of sub-carriers corresponding to said node identifier to be used by said wireless terminal, the set of sub-carriers including at least one guard subcarrier from each of the at least two discontinuous portions of bandwidth.